The Transition
from
Impersonal to Personal
in Middle-English.
Inaugural Dissertation
presented to the Philosophical Faculty
of the
Ruprecht Karl University, Heidelberg
by
WILLEM VAN DER GAAF, AMSTERDAM.
HILVERSUM, J. h. WITZEL. 1Q04,


By permission of the Philosophic.il Faculty of Heidelberg University only part of my dissertation is printed here. The whole work will appear shortly as one of the volumes of
Anglistische Forschungen,
ed. by Prof. Hoops Heidelberg, Carl Winter's Univ. Buchli.


CHAPTER I.
Introduction.
I. The subject of this inquiry has hitherto received but little attention from students of English Ilistorical Syntax. Koch (//is/ Gramm. § 109) and Matzner (Hist. Gramm. II, p. 198 ff.) content themselves with giving a list of verbs impersonal in M.E. but personal in Mod. E., and with adducing a few instances, while the information supplied by Mason {Eng. Gr. §§ 247, 3S2 note. 496) is still scantier. The statements made hy Einenkel (Streifziige, p. 111—116) and Kellner (Introd. to Blanchardyn $ 17) are based upon too few data for their conclusions to be of great value to English Ilistorical Syntax generally; moreover, their results cannot always be accepted without a certain amount of reserve, as I shall have opportunities of showing later on. None of the above investigators have attempted to account for the changes stated by them. This has been done by Jespersen in his excellent work Pro gr e ss in L anguage (§§ 173—180) but the quantity of materials he makes use of is altogether insufficiënt, and an adequate treatment of such a comprehensive subject cannot be condensed into ten small pages printed in rather large type. In questions like the one I propose dealing with, reliable results can only be obtained from an examination of a large number of texts, representing the various dialects and stages of development of Middle'Ênglish.
2. It is usual to caH the. verbs and phrases treated in the following pages, impersjonal, because the word it, which often precedes them. is 'a purely grammatical empty subject-word" (Sweet, New Eng. Gr. ij 257). Most of them, hovvever, can also have other subjects than it; they can be used as personal verbs. From a logical point of view ' subjectless'sentences are, of course, an impossibilty (Paul, Princ. d. Sprachgesch. Cap. \ I), and from a grammatical point of view the question wheVan der Gaaf, Transition. 1


thei from the very begini ing there were 'subjectless' sentcnces in Primitive Indo-Germanic, is as yet an open one. Delbrück, who discusses the question in Brugmann's Grundriss V (Syntax II, Ka. XXX\ II) arrivés at the following conclusion: "Ich glaube also jetzt, dass die Frage sich mit den Mitteln der historischen Sprachforschung m Bezug aii'f die fertige indogermanische Flexionssprache nicht entscheiden liisst" (See also Delbrück, Grundfragen der Sprachforschung p. 43). As the matter stands, it will for practical reasons be advisable to retain the time-honoured term of 'impersonal verbs' and to adhere to the distinction between really impersonal and quasiimpersonal verbs. 1 he former express natural phenomena, as, it ttuinders, it rains, it is freesing, and can have 110 other subject than it, while the latter, although generally or originally personal verbs, have it for their grammatica!, provisional subject, while the real, logical subject is expressed in the form of a clause as, it seems he clid not understand you; methinks (= it me thinks) it wears upon its face my guilt For motto (Byron, Werner III, I.) I he former have undergone no change in English, and lie, therefore, outside the scope of my investigations. As to the latter, the change to which they have been subject, affected them not only when they were quasinnpersonal, but also when they were employed as personal veibs, so that Jespersen s vvords 'A great many verbs which in old English were impersonal, have become personal in Modern English (i$ 173) express less than what he means to say. Wh at we are to understand is that in O. E. and early M. E. there were a certain number of verbs, often used quasi-impersonally, which governed a noun or pronoun in the dative or accusative, and that in late M. E. the relation between these verbs and the nouns and pronouns so governed, became reversed, so that the former came to be governed by the latter, which became the subject of the sentence. E. g. a sentence like ,if my servyse or I may lyke yow... (Chaucer, Troil. & Cris. I- 430. became'if ye (you) may like my servyse or me'; me [ne] lakketh but my deth (Chaucer, Compl. unto Pite 105) was turned into 'I lakke but my deth'.
3- The question we have to deal with is, therefore, a most interesting instance of case-shifting. No Gernianic language


has undergone such profound changes in its case system as English has (see Jespersen, Progress, Ch. VII). The difference between dative and accusative had already disappeared in early M.E. In the cases of nouns, adjectives and numerals the simplifying process went even further: with a few exceptions nominative., dative, and accusative were levelled under one form. If we now remember that in Middle English the order of words gradually became fixed, so that in late M. E. we generally find the verb after the subject, and consider this fact in connection with the circumstance that very often the complement of the so-called impersonal verb retained its place before the verb, we see that this 'endingless' objective might easily be taken for a nominative. Even if there had been no other causes of confusion, this one alone would probably have proved sufficiënt ultimately to subvert the relation between the verb and its complement, as the inflected objectives only formed a very small minority, and would have formd it diflicult to hold their own their against overwhelming odds.
Before proceeding to a more detailed discussion of the causes of the transition it will be advisable to enumerate the verbs that form the subject of the present inquiry. In order to economize space, and also in order to distinguish constructions of the "methinks" type in a convenient way from others that will be dealt with later on (B, C, and D constructions, see j) 41) I will call verbs like "methinks", "melists", "meseems" type A verbs.
CHAPTER II.
A. Type A verbs in Old English.
4. Like all the other old Germanic dialects, O. I"-. was rich in verbs that could enter into the type A construction. Without counting derivatives and compounds, I have found their number to be about 40. A few of them were already obsolescent in O. E., and several others got lost in early M. E., before the transition had begun, so that it will bc


unnecessary to quote instances of them. One, behofian, has resisted the prevailing tendency until the present day, and still exclusively occurs in the A construction (it behoves me, you, etc.), although in Scotch it may at one time occasionally have been used 'personally', for in Lindesay's Minor Poetns 577/114 we find, "he bekomt for till depart."
The following list contains the verbs and phrases that claim our attention.
5- gebyrian, with dative. This verb has two meanings viz. 'happen , cf. Du. gebeuren, and 'be fit, becoming, belong, pertain to, it behoves', cf. Germ. gebiihren. Only the latter signification need be instanced here, as the former was already obsolete in early M. E.
Alfred s Death, Grein I, 385/22, SyvWan liine man byrigde, swa kim wel gebyrede.
Luke XI 42, Corp. |ias |»ing eozv gebyrede to donne; Hatt. *) eoiv geberede; Eind. & Ruslnv. different.
Ibid. XII 12, Corp. & Hatt., Ilalig gast eow la_r\ 011 (>a;re tide Jia Jiing [ie eow gebyred \ Eind., behofad
Rushw. bi-hof ad.
Ibid. XIII 16, Corp., we.gebyrede hyre beon unbunden; Hatt., ne byrede hire; Lind. & Rushw. different.
Ibid. XXIV 46, Corp. & Hatt., jms gebyrede crist liolian. Eind. & Rushw. different.
Blickl. Hom. 111/13, ]>is is se rihta geleafa |»e (Cghwylcum men gebyrett.
6. eglian, 'molest, trouble', with dative.
JudiJ» 185, he mid l.x'Wurn us eglan moste.
Cura Pastoralis 234/8, hivi eg/de \,x't he wa*s betra ^onne he.
Boethius I5/23t Wenst jiu |)a>t hit hw;ct nixyes sie o|i|ie hw£L'thwugu ungewunelices |i,xt )ie 011 becumen is, swelce o/irum monnu ,xr [iaet ilce 11e eg lede ?
Chronicle 1086 (Earle's ed. 220/33), I>a-'t him stranglice eglade.
Laws (of King Edm.) I 246/22, me eg/e/> swu\e (from Bosw. T.)
*) llatton is au early Al. L. (Keiilinli; Iransrript ol un (K E. version.


St. Gu{»lac 60/8, Him najfre syWan seo adl ne eg/ode (from Bosw. T.)
7. god, betra, betst beon, witli dative.
Matthew XVII 4 C & H, god is us hpr to beonne; Lind., god is us her to wosanne; Rushw., god his Jast we her sie.
Cura Past. 397/17, god bid men |»aet he sie butan wife; Ibid. 397/18, god bid mannum kut eelc ha:bbe his agen wif.
Ibid. 30/16 him zvcere betre Jiaet him wcere sumu esuleweorn to \iem swiran getigged = Mark XI 42, C & H betere him wcere jieet an cweorn — stan wtere to his swuran (H sweoren) gecnyt; Lind., god & betra is him ... R., god is him.
Mark IX 43, 45, 47 C & H., betere jte is ]>at . . . Lind. & Rushw. god is de, exc. v. 43, where Lind. reads betra & god is de.
Mat. XXVI 24 C & H, Betere wcere pam men |i;et hc naefre naere acenned. Lind., god were him . . .; Rushw., god him wccre . . .
Cura Past. 274/12, se wisa swiga&, o\ he ongitt ?vaet him bid bettre to sprecanne.
Blickl. Hom. 25/25, him wcere betere ]>at he najfre geboren ngere.
Battle of Maldon 31, eow betere is Jxet ge ftisn garnus mid gafole forgyldon.
Alfred, Boethius 54/29, he teohhaJ. {»set him sie betst.
Alfred's Soliloquies 164/24, hwile good him were betst to donne & hwile yfel betst to forletende (from Wülfing, Synt. 1. d. Werken Alf. d. Gr. II, 1, p. 201). 8. hreowan, 'cause sorrow; grieve, afflict, trouble', with
dative, or with accusative.
a. with dat.
Gu|»lac 783, Him |iait ne hreowed .ufter hingonge.
Past. Care 417/1, Him nan yfel 11e hreoivj).
Ibid. 429/17, hit him ne hreow[).
Boethius 190/30, him his yfel ne hreowit.
Laws (Ecgb. Conf.) 158/7, Donne hreowe/t hire vVx-t heo hire gehat ne gefylde (from Bosw. T.).


b. with acc.
Genesis 1276, hreaw hitte swi^e, paet he folcma;g]ia fruman aweahte.
Christ. 1415. C\a mee ottgoti hrcowatt (net min hondgeweorc on feonda geweald feran seeolde.
c. with dat. or acc. (may be either)
Genesis 816, Nu me ttueg ahreowan {i;et ie b;ed heofnes god.
Ibid. 819, Hit me nu hrcowatt m;eg a;fre te aldre.
Ibid. 826, hit Jie }ieah ne wyrs ne mag hreozvan.
Psalm XL 2, foiAon me hreozved nu {wet ic firene on ^e fremede geneahhige.
9. langian, 'cause desire, longing', with accusative.
Genesis 496, Lattgad be awuht, Adam ?
Ibid. 1431, Jueled lattgodc.
Wife's Complaint 14, Mee longade.
Orosius 84/27, |>;ut us nu ;ufter swelcum longian maege swelce v\a waeron.
Rlickl. Hom. 113/15, Da ongan hitte eft langian on his cyWe.
Ibid. 227/1, hitte *\,x's langode hwanne he of öjsse worlde moste.
A dative occurs in
Beowulf 18S0, him on hre&re . . . itftcr deorum men dyrne lattgad.
10. la{) beon, 'be odious, hateful', with dative.
Riddle (Grein) I 12 wees me hw;efire eac la}>.
Gujilac 560, We Jie nu willa\ womma gehwylces lean forgieldan, |ia.-r /«• la/iast bid.
Genesis 647, Se was lad Gode.
Metres XV 1, he wees ... witena gehwclcum lad.
Judi|t 323, hie on swa\e reston {ia \e him to life ladost wrtron cwicera cynna.
Orosius 122/6, & nella\ gejtencan hu lad cow selfum wees to gelicstanne eowre a|»as.
Boethius 64/26, ne wees he |ieah celcum wituin lad.
Chronicle 1048, him wies lad to amyrrenne his agenne folga\.
Ibid. 1048, hi trymedon hi fa;stlice ongean, |ieah him


lap wcere l>jet hi ongean heora cynehlaford standan sceolden.
la|)ian, 'be odious, hateful', with dative.
Orosius 148 13, Olympiade ... J>a:m folce fela la\es gedyde — [>a Cassander [ia:t geascade J>a:t hio pcem folce ladade, [ia gegadcrade he fird.
This is the only instance of a type A ('methinks') construction I know of.
leof, leofre, leofost beon, 'be dear, agreeable', with dative.
Beowulf 2468, he ]>one hea\o-rinc hatian ne meahte la\um dsedum, [icah him leof ne wees.
Elene 606, Jic synt tu gcaru, swa lif, swa deaïv, swa jir leof re l>iil to geceosanne.
Genesis XXIX 19, leofre me ys \a.'t ic hig sylle ^.e ^onne o\rum.
Blickl. Hom. 51/29, Us l>i[> &onne leofre \onne eal eorjian wela gif he us miltsian wile.
Ibid. 111 /26, Eall forkete]) &éet him wees leofost to agenne and to haibbenne.
Orosius 286/7, |>ret him leofre wees se cristendom to beganne Jionne his scira to habbanne.
Boethius 22/32. mienegum men is leofre [i,x>t he self swelte a;r he gesio his wif & his bearn sweltende.
Ibid. 24/5, him w<erc leofre [>ret hie w;eran una;[>ele
|ion swa earme.
Ibid. 139/24, Me ware leofre jutt ic onette wk\ (i.xs |);et ic |»e moste gehtstan.
lician, 'please', with dative.
Beowulf 640, pam ivife pa word wel licodon.
Ibid. 1855, Me J»in mod-sefa licait.
Orosius 106 23, si|>|»an gelicade eallum folcum [>;ut hie Romanum underjiieded waere (sic).
Ibid. 250/19, ne fer jian |>;utte nnigum folce his aegenu a; gelicade to healdenne.
Cura Past. 144/10, & licad him C^aet hie \aet unaliefede do\ aliefedlice.
Le (Ges. der As.) 66/3, and us eallum gelicodc j>a, [»ret we sendon Paulus.


Ibid. 68/10, hie Jia cw;tdon, Ji.t't hitn [ia:t licode eallum to healdenne.
Boethius 29/12, Hwi nc sceolde me lician faeger lond ?
Ibid. 35/6, se a,'ftera anweald |iara heretogena heem rotnaniscwn tui tutu get wyrs licode (ion se a;rra |>ara cyninga; see further Ibid. 16/4, 29 9, 43/26, 62/13, 101/18, &c. &c.
Psalm (Thorpe) XLIII 5, ]'e licode mid him to bconne.
Matthew XIV 6 C. & H, hit licode (H li A-ede) herode', L, gelicade deern cyninge; R, licade Herode, Cf. Mark VI, 22.
Blickl. Hom. 79/21, hi...genaman [ia;s folces ]ie . . . hitn selost licodan.
Ibid. 237/1, ic eom mihtig . .. swa eal to donne . . . swa hw;ut swa me licad.
Ibid. 241/20, Gif eow swa licige uton senden rap on his syrwan.
Ibid. 241/24, hit him licode.
14. lystan, 'please', with accusative.
Beowulf 1794, Geat ungemetes wel .... restan lyste.
Whale 52, f>one aglcecan aetes lyste/).
Metres of Boethius IX 19, N;es }ia;t herlic da,'d [iaet kitte swilces gamenes gilpan lyste.
Ibid. X 14, \onne hitte |>a;s hlisan heardost lysted.
Ibid. X 18, hwi eow a lyste mid eowruni swiran selfra willum jia;t sw.ure gioc symle underlutan?
Ibid. XIX 11, jionne eow fon lystcil leax oWe cyperan.
Ibid. XIX 16, ^onne eow secan lyst heorotas & hinda.
Ibid. XIX 33, for&aem hi lefre ne lyst jufter spyrian secan Jia gesad^a.
Ibid. XIX 39, hit me ^011 lysteit.
Cura Past. 278/6, a,'t .x'rcstum lyst dotte tnon unnyt sprecan be o^.rum monnum.
Ibid. 284/9, kiene ne lyste sum nytwieiAe weorc wyrcan.
Ibid. 391/25, ftionne alief\ he him eal iutt i\.x-t hitte lysit to donne & Jvycganne.
Orosius 102/25, 'c gehwam wille |i,x-rto tajean |ie kiene his lyst ma to witanne.


Boethius, Proem li, he halsa\ a;lcne Jiara ]ie [ias boe ra;dan lyste.
Ibid. 18/16, . . . jni Jie fore up to us gif pe lyste.
Ibid. 19/10, Swa him mon mare sel\, swa hine ma lyst.
Ibid. 19/14, pe otiga 11 lystan ure.
Ibid. 39/20, Hine lyste eac geseon hu seo burne.
Ibid. 77/1-3, Ne him eac na;fre genog ne l>incCv a;r he h.xbbe eal [><xt hitte lyst, forv\on ]>e [to/ie welan lyst, anwaldes, & pone anwald lyst weor\scipes, & potte weordscipe lyst ma:rda.
Tliere are numerous other instances in Boethius; the verb is also frequent in the Soliloqtties (on p. 196 Wülfing quotes 8 instances.) The following two have been taken from the Blic kling Hom.:
hytte ne lyst his vvillan wyrcean (51/16); se getreowa man sceal syllan his god on }ia tid ]ie hitte sylfne selest lyste his brucan (101 20).
15. maetan, 'dream', with dative or accusative (cf. hreowan)
Cross 2, ic swefna cyst secgan wylle, hwa;t vtcgeuiiette to midre nihte.
a. Deut. XIII 1, Gif he secge v\iet hint tucctte swefen.
Daniël 122, fregn Jia CVa mamigeo, hwxt hine gevuette.
Boethius 58/8, ge Jieah magon hwtethwugu ongitan swelce eow meete be eowrum frumsceafte.
h. Gen. XXXVII 5, Hit gelamp \ait hitte uta'tte.
c. Gen. XXXVII 7, Min swefen v\e me vuette.
Ibid. XXXVII 9, o\er swefen hitte nnette.
Leechdoms III 154/15, swa hwtet swa de uicctep Ouet cym[i to gefean.
16. liyncan. 'seem' with dative.
It is usual to call this verb 'impersonal'.
In Bosworth—Toller a few instances are quoted, in which 'the subject is expressed', but no mention is made of the fact that it also occurs without a dative, as is shown by the following quotations:
Beowulf 368, Hy on wig-getawum wyrCXc pyncead eorla geajhtlan.
Riddles IV 10, Stille pynced lyft ofer londe.
I'ast. Care 134 18, niewilnia^ \xthiedynccan da betsan.


Orosius 120/15-16, Philippuscs yfel mekte J>eh |>a giet be sumum deele gemetlic j>yncan.
Boethius 144 19, ten [msend geara, jieah hit lang J>hice.
Hlickl. Hom. 107 30, piihte fcege & wlitig hcora lif & wynsumlic.
Life of St. Neot 207, se fiincd nu wserrest and geapest, l»e o&erne maeig beswican.
In Old Icelandic [tykkia is very often used in this way; in the lirst hundred pages of the Snorra l'.dda (ed. by Finnur Jónsson, Copenh. 1900) I have noted 110 less than cight instances. There is also an instance in Wttlfila:
Luke VII 18, jah saei ni habaij», jah |>atei liugkeift haban, afnimade af imma.
As I may not have an opportunity of mentioning this interesting fact later on, I may as vvell point out here, that in Middle English, too, the use of [mnchen, pluchen, /lint[eti] without a dative is not infrequent.
V ices and Virtues 147, 8, mine teares me waren bred dai.-, and niht; swa gode hle )touhten.
La,~amon A 28667, 'leo somneden |ia cnihtes alle selest ] a hco jmhte.
Ibid 28822, Inritten alle Jies szvcitics swulchc hco weoren Jieines.
Sawles Warde (O. E. Hom. I) p. 249, cucli her f,unched. |»at stont in his heaued up (Royal Ms.: enk er in his heauet [mnehed fiat stont up).
Ibid. p. 259, j>e s/oi/ie glearn is dosc, ant jtnuched
aschadewe (Royal Ms.: jtiiHehed dosc, ant as
aschadcwe).
Ancren Rivvle p. 98, Ueond f>et punched freond is swike ouer alle swike.
Ibid. p. 148, iVoiseses houd jmhte leprus.
Ibid. p. 148, god dede . .. ƒ>unched ."jet atelich bivoren Godes eien.
Ibid. p. 192, alle hco (= uondunges) ptinehed wouh.
Ibid. p. 222, one Jiinge /«•/ unched swu|ie god (similar inst. on p. 228).
Ibid. p. 416, Aticre I>et haue\ eihte punched bet husewif.


Hali Meidenh. 45 20, Eadi godes spuse liaue ]>is ilke mihte [>at tu nu Jtunchc jieostri.
Ibid. 47/6, ne nul ich naut for a lust of a lute hwile ]»at hit punclie delit awai vvarpe fiat |>ing hvvas lure ichulle bireuien wi\ute couerunge. See also 27/11, 35/1, 39/10 & 43 19.
Owl and Nightingale 263 (346), Ne bo |ie song never so murie, |>at he ne s/uil junctie wel unmurie.
Ibid. 417 (840), hit piiic/i sol» al jat ]>u seist.
Woman of Samaria (O. E. Misc.) 19, Hvvat ar-tu [>at drynke me byst. pa pinchcst of iudelonde.
South Eng. Leg. 10/311, |ie giwes comen and founden I'at treo fleotinde [>are bi cas: huy nomen hit up, for hit pon ste fil and foul.
Ibid. 85/62, pis maidc poujjlc al a-fuyre: ase huy Jat stoden |>are i-seije.
Ibid 93/37, 'maidc', seide [ie Aumperur, 'pou pinchcst gent and freo!'
Shoreham's Poems I 808, hyt pinfcp bote o| er bred An hea.~ | at |>e prest healde[).
Castell off Loue 720, the castel ... is rhddore Jien euere eny ros schal, pat punchcp as hit barnde al.
It vvould be easy to collect hundreds of instances of the \ construction of pyncan. A few may suffice here.
Beowulf 843, him fold-wegas ftegere jmhton.
Orosius 92/27, Hu pyncd cow nu?
l'ast. Care 176/20, & 011 o\re wisan |mon sceal manigean| \a Jte *\isse hwilendlican are wilnia\, & him nan gesvvinc ne (tynrd [t.x-t hie hie h;ebben, 011 o\re \a [»e him (tynat miccl earfodu ....
7. wa beon, 'be ill with', with a'ativc.
Beowulf 183, wa bid [teem Jie sceal [>urh sli\ne ni\ savvle bescufan.
Gen. 634, Monige hwile bid pam men full wa.
Elenc 628, him wees geomor sefa, hat at hcortan ond gehwae^res wa.
Salomo and Saturnus 104, him bid rut heartan wa.
Ibid. 325, wa bid \onne dissum viodgum monnum.
Compl. of the Kallen Angels 342, him wees a;ghwaer wa.


Wife's Complaint 52, wa bid pam ]>e sccal of lango|ie
leofes abiden!
Orosius 114/31, fkc//i folcc wees jegjires wa.
Aelfric's Metr. Lives I 17, 167, Him bid wa 011 his mode, &a;t ge swa annede beod.
Wulfstan 147 17, Hi ne mihten asecgan hu wa dam sawlum bid.
Ibid. 235/19, D;ut him n;ufre rer naire swa wa swa him v\a wes.
Nicodemus 26, De byp ;efre lua (from Bosw. T.)
Hexameron 24/22, Da was dam deoflcwa on his mode £vat se man sceolde >\a myrgjte geearnion (from Bosw. T.)
18. wel, bet beon, 'be well with, for', with dative.
Beowulf 186, wel bip pcem ]»e mot a:fter dea\d;ugc drihten secan.
Andreas 887, Dam bip well, CVara blissa brucan moton.
Psalm (Thorpe) XXXIV 33, Wel la 'iwel is urum moditm.
Boethius 46/31, hwaet bid eow |ion py bet?
Metres of Boeth. X 65, |ieah ge nu wenen & wilnigen l>aet gfc lange tid libban moten, hwaet iow a)fre py bet bid oWe Jiince?
John IV 52, (Corpus) Da acsode he, to hwylcum timan him bet ware.
B. Type A verbs in Middle English.
19. All the verbs instanced above continued to be employed in the same way in carly M.E.; the othcr O.K. type A verbs became obsolete before 1300 (sec g 4). I lowever, the number of verbs of the 'methinks' type was again augmented by additions from various sources. A few verbs already in use in O.E. underwent a more or less radical change of signification, and adopted the A construction; others were formed from existing sterns; others, again, were borrowed from Old French and a few from Old Norse. 1 he language of the Vikings, which was at one time spoken a good deal along the east coast, must have been fairly intelligible to the Anglo-Saxons. Abundant proof of


this fact is afforded by the Icelandic sagas (Egils saga cap. 50 ff.; Gunlaugs saga cap. 5,6), The author (or scribe?) of the latter saga even goes the length of saying. 'Ein var tunga 1 Englandi ok noregi, aj»r Vilhjalmr bastarjtr vann England' (ed. Mogk, p. 11). No wonder that so many Old Norse words found their vvay into M. E. ')
Ihe folio wing type A verbs are first met w i t h in M. E.
20. dremen, 'dream'.
O. E. dreman means'tomake a joyful sound', the usual word for what is expressed by Mn. E. 'to dream' being mcctan (see above), while the corresponding noun was meeting; swefn, too, was used in this sense. In early M. E. dremen always lias the O. E. signification (e. g. in La-amon.)
The A construction of dremen = Mn. E 'dream' first makes its appearance in East Midland productions, so that we can safely assume that the construction me &c dremep is owing to Scandinavian influence (O. Icel. mik &c dreymr; inf. elreyma, always —'to dream'),and that M. E. dremen is to be looked upon as a loanword.2)
Ilere are some early instances:
Gen. & Exod. 1941, him drempte \or quiles he slep.
Ibid. 2049, Hem drempte dremes bo\en onight.
Ibid. 2059, Me drempte, ic stod at a win-tre. Mc drempte further occurs in 2066 and 2078, him drempte in 2095 and 2123.
Ilavelok 1284, A selkuth drem dremedc me nou.
Ibid. 1304, Anojier drem dremede mc yet.
Rob. of Brunne, Ilandlyng Synne 454 Jiat dremed pe ]>e lioujier ny,~t.
21. for{>ink(en) (forluinchcn &c) 'cause sorrow, repentance. 1 his is an interesting verb, and deserves a moment's special attention. It made its appearance in M.E. about the end of the twelfth century, and in little more than a hundred years entirely supplanted ofpink\en\ (of {lunchen &c), the
1) l5ue tlie interesting Introdnction to Iijiirkman, Scnmlinarian Ijtan Words in M/ddh' Enyhsh. a work wliicli did nut coine luider my notice nntil atter I liad eunipleted inv MS.
U) Cl', üjiirkman, p. 11.


representative of O. E. ofpynean = 'displease' (for examples see Bosw. T.). It was formed 011 the anology of O. E. forpencan — 'dislike, be displeased with' (instances in Bosw. I .)• O. E. 'ic forpence hit' and 'hit of jtyncep me' meant pretty nmch the same thing, and the nouns derived from these verbs by means of — uiig were, of course, synonymous. M. E. of\tinkiiig, of [tunchiing soon god disused ; there are a few instances in the Ancreu Rizvle (pp. 100, 190, 200, 206) and two in Ha li Meidenhad (7/36, 25 14). In early M. E. ofpink\en\, ofpunchen generally meant 'cause sorrow, repentance , while forpenking, forpenchuug came to mean 'penance, repentance , and ousted O. E. \dicd\bote, which word is still used a great many times in the early Southern Homilies. The Ayenbite has vorpenchung = 'penance' (4/2, 20/33, 28/28, 29/24, 32/35, 73/22, 171/5, I7I/9. 171/34. 211/35, Wyclif uses forthenkynge repeatedly (.1 lat. XXI 29 & XXVII 3; Lay 1'. Cat. 1021 & 1319 &c.); in Cursor Mundi we find forpinking (25934).
As far as the Kentish dialect is concerned, there is anotlier factor to be taken into account. It is the cliange of y into e during the 9'!' century — owing to unrounding and subsequent lowering (Sievers Ags. Gramm.3§ 154; Bülbring, Ae. Eleinentarb. 162), so that O. E. pyncan becanie pene hen, while ofpyncan appeared in the fonn of ofpenchen Vices & Virt. 3/'4> 71/9'< Shoreham's Poems 967). This circumstance could not fail to favour the early introduction of the new verb into Kentish. Accordingly we find in the Üigby MS. of the Moral Ode, dating from about I200(printed in Anglia I): Bote |>o, |iet vorpnhte ham here sennen and here misdeden (131» !)• Ihe following parallel passages illustrate the change of prefix.
Juliana Bodl, 17/4» Ic'1 ne seh him neauer & |tat vte of punched, but Royal MS: ... |>at me sarc forjiunrhett.
1'ast. Care, 232/20 v\a ofpuhte him Ovaette men waeron to Jvaem gesceapene, and
O. E. Hom. I, p. 225, him ofpnhte |iat he efre man cun gesceop, but:
Deluge 285. mefor-Jtynhfj ful mucli |iat euer 1111011 made. 1'iers Plowman A X 158, |»at I makede mon, nou


hit me for-pinkep', Ibid C XI 252, god seide, 'tut' forpynkep that ich man made.'
Gesta Rom. p. 331, It ever me forthynketh that I made man.
Guy of Warw. 1216 A text, Jterl it of-poujt s\vij>e sore, but C text, 1 he erle it for thoughte full sore.
Ibid. 3192 A, jiat for-pou~t J;e steward, vnwreste, but C: Ihat forthoughte the styward in his breste.
Luke XVII 4, O. E. Corp. Hit me ofpincp, but Wyclif, It forthcnkith me.
Ofpunchen became obsolete before the middle of the 14 th century; the latest instances of it I have met with, occur in texts from the Auchinleck MS. {,Guy of Warw. 3039, 3192, 6260; Speculum Gy de II ar. 537). Already in early M. E, e.g. in I.a~a»ion 13 3364, the prefix, owing to its being unstressed, was reduced to a-, o-, thusgiving rise to forms like apuncheti, apinehen, opunehen, opinehen, &c, which survived the full forms, as they keep cropping up till the end of the 14 th century {Guy of Warw. A 7110; Bev. of Ham/. A ^o(M\Picrs PI. I! IX 129; Chaucer, Troil & Cris. I 1050 and V 878).
I he A-construction of the new verb (forpenehen in Kentish, [orpuiteken in the other Southern dialects, forpinken in Midland, forpink in Northern English) is very often met with; I have noted 9 instances in Cursor Mundi, 6 in A yenbit e, 6 in Guy of J Varw. ( amb. MS., 7 in Mor te Darthur &c.
22 geynen, 'avail, profit', 'be advantageous'. Like dreinen, this verb is of Scandinavian origin *) The Old Norse verb gegna, a denominative derived from gagn 'profit, advantage', means 'to meet, to suit, 'to be suitable', and was introduced into English at an early date. Both the noun and the verb occur in the Ormnlum:
13923> litell ga-/leun waere ....
970, nu ne 't' hemm nohht To winnenn
eche blisse.
14480, mikell majj pe gej-iienu he To winnenn hefifness blisse.
I he following instances all date from before 1400.
*) Cf. Bji'irkmaii, /.min IVvrtl», pp. 112 and 151.


Hali Meidenh. p 45, he geined jic nawt, sweoke? Ancren Riwie p. 362, negeined vic nout to assailen him. XI I ains of Helle (O. E. Misc.) 69, Ne geynejt z>s ne grene. Poems Harl. MS. 2253, 104/43, for]> to Jie chepyn, geynep 110 chost.
Cursor Mundi 732 G, Hym gayned noght cum adam ney; F similar.
Bev. of Hamt. C text 1583" (p. 83), socour jienketh lie to haue, be Machoun, hym shall not gayne.
Minot s Poems I\ 57, jian gayned him no gle. E. E. All. Poems, Pearl 343, Anger gayne- /ie not a cresse.
Ibid. Patience 164, vchon glewed 011 his god |iat gayned hym beste.
herumbras 2034, |ier nis no mur.-(|ie J»at may him gayne.
Chaucer, Troil. Cr Cris. I 352, He held his pees, none olher bote him gayned.
Id. Cant. T. A 1176, i/s gaytulh no raunsoun.
Destr. of "1 roy 5636, monly with might meve onto londe The ground for to get, gaynis vs non other. 23. greven, 'trouble, be disagreeable', from O. V.greiur, grevtcr, — used both personally and quasi-impersonally. We need only occupy ourselves with the latter construction, which is followed or preceded by an infinitive or a clause.
S. Eng. Leg. 179/42, me grevez J»at |iou nelt habbe reujie in ]ti Jiou.-t.
Cursor Mundi 10443 G, grettys me wonderly sare, I se the leudy ma suilk care; C different; T similar.
Ibid. 11234 C, It greves tts, it es sua grete (other texts similar).
Will. of Pal. 530, to wite him, me greues.
Ibid. 5455, {tei soute sejie on - sunder I10U5I1 it hem sore gretied.
Rom. of the Rose B 3406, That greveth me sir, ful gretly That ever my lyf I wratthed you.
( haucer, Cant T. E 647, noght greveth 111e at all, Togh that my doghter and my sone be slayn.
Id. Boethius I, pr. V 329, it greveth me to thinke right


now the dyverse sentences that the poeple seith of me. Generydes 1207, To wete yovv in this plight it grevilk
me.
Ibid. 1822, It grevid me full ill to here hym speke. De S. Wenefreda Sermo 316/13, l>at hur grand, ]>at shco mythe not gon with hem to chyrche. 24. hap|pen|, 'befall'. In O.E. there is an adjective gehiep, 'fit, convenient'. This word, however, can hardh be 'looked upQn as the stem of our verb.
H ap\pen\ is a denominative derived from hctp'Xwck, chance, a word that already occurs in the beginning of the 13th century. (Lar.amon.) This hap is a Scandinavian loanword *): O. Icel. ha pp 'luck, chance'.
Hap{pen\ is of very frequent occurrence, but the A construction is not met with till about 134°-
Gestes of Alis. 665, What ska 11 hut happe to haue |iat
hende is of deede?
Barbour, Bruce XI 644. Quhethir hint happin to vin or loss, I will nocht for him brek purpos.
Ibid. XX 137, lt hapnyt robert the kyng To pass till
god.
Ibid. XX 148, thame hapnyt vardamys to be.
Piers Plowman C VI 95. atte laste hym happed Ile
bouhte suche a bargayn.
Chaucer, Leg. of Good W. A 66 = B 78, And thogh it happen me rehercen eft That ye han in your fresshe
songes sayd, For-bereth me.
Ibid. 634. in the see hit happed hem to mete.
Id. Pari. of Foules 18. hit happed me for to beholde
Upon a boke...
Destr of Troy 2471, yf it happen hym to have Any hynde lady... Hit may these you... to chaunge hir agayne.
Ibid. 13421, There hym happyt to here of his harme first. Further instances: Ibid. 3'4-- 33-^* 73^->
9763. 10195.
(* cl'. Bjiirkman, hmn ir'«v'<. pp. 212, 213.
2
Xan der Oaftl, lransition»


Hoccleve, Reg. of Princes 601, Whan it kim happij) to chirche gon, of nycete he clappij).
Secreta Secretorum 3rd transl. 138/12, If hit happe a kynge to do any thynge unwyssely, he owith it repel vmbethoght avysely.
Book of the Knight of La Tour Landry 10/34. Hit happed' her on a derke night, she felle into a vvelle.
Ibid. 36/24, it happed the torches to be queint.
Generydes 215. At the last it happyd hym to see where as they rode in a full fayre vaile.
Ibid 36/22, It happed me, I had a sight.
Gesta Rom. p 24, If it happe me to dye for jie in batill ... j>u sette out my blody serke on a perch.
Ibid. p 45, if it happe the to dye, I am redy to dye with the.
Ibid. p. 280, Ilarl MS ... it happid hem to renne of ]ie forest; cf. Add. MS., it happed J»at the bestes ronne by the forest.
25. lakken, 'be wanting, fail'. The etymology of this verb presents some difficulties. There can be no doubt as to its being a denominative from lak 'a failing, blemish'. But to what source are we to tracé this nou.n ? It does not occur in O. E., nor is it found in O. N. In Middle Dutch and in Old Frisian, however, (laken and lakia respectively) it is of frequent occurrence. Moreover, M. Du. laken corresponds exactly to M. E. lacken as regards its signification: 1 'blame'; 2 'be wanting'. The latter signification is copiously illustrated in Verwys and Verdam's excellent and practically exhaustive Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek. A constructions, however, are not given; all the instances are personal, without a dative, a type which also occasionally occurs in M. E., e-g. Assitmption of Otire Lady 645 Harl. thu lakkest euer at euery nede. Chaucer, Boethius, III, pr. V 13, yif ihilke power lakketh on an side amenuseth it nat thilke blisfulnesse? — Siniilar instances Ibid. IV pr. II 30, 114. There being no evidence to the contrary, we may consider lakken to be the first Dutch loanword in English. This assumption is favoured by the circumstance that at a very early period there was already a considerable commercial intercourse between


England and the Netherlands. In king Ethelred's time (979—1016) trading vessels coming from Flanders visited London (See Gibbins, Hts/, of Comm. 85), And since that time the trade between Holland and 'Flanders' constantly increased. A constructions of lakken are very numerous and I will therefore only adduce some dating from before 1400.
O. E. Hom. I, p. 233, Wat lacede ~eu an alle mine rice... ?
Gen. & Exod. 1231, Tid-like hem gan CS. at water loken.
Prov. of Hendyng lil, .lef |ie lacke\> mete ojier clo|», Ne make |ie nout for-J(y to wro|).
Poems MS. Harl. 2253, 106/22, Nou ne lackef> hem no lyn boses in to beren.
Earliest Eng. Prose Psalter XXXVIII 6, ich wite, what |iynge me lacke/>.
Gestes of Alis. 419, hem lacked a leader.
Wyclif, Lay Folks' Cat. 312, And |ius men lakkys knowynge.
Id. Engl. Works 93/33, hint lackid witt & Charite.
Id. Ibid. 389/15, hem lakkij) her owne party |ioro\\ foly ."ifte of her auncetreris.
Chaucer, Compl. unto Pite 105, Me ne lakkelh but my deeth.
Id. Boethius III pr. IX 26, htm ne lakkelh no-thing.
Id. Ibid. IV pr. III 21, him lakkelh goodnesse.
Id. Cant. T. B. 1437, Thee lakkelh noon array ne no vitaille.
Gower, C'onf. Am. Prol. 428, Hem lacketh herte forto bete.
ld. Ibid. II 2392, Me lakketh nothing.
Further Ibid. I 3023; VI 908; VIII 2427.
Destr. of Troy 3561, kir laekit suche lustis in a londe straunge.
26. myster, 'be necessary'.
The O. F. subtsantive menestier, mestier, mislier, meslire &ic means 'trade, office, occupation, business', but also 'requirement, need, necessity'. Both significations occur in M. E.; the term misler man is a very usual one for 'workman, handicraftsman'. The verb, of course, is connected with the second


meaning. In M. E. there is a phrase myster habben, which is quite synonymous with nede habben and, in some texts at any rate, just as usual; side by side with it a type A phrase, myster ben + dative, is found. The former of these two expressions occurs, for instance, Cursor Mitndi 14035 (all texts), 19044 (all texts), 28275, 28717; Assumption of oure Lady 68, Ham po le Works I, pp. 46, 66, 226, 229, 234, 251; II, 118; Brnce III 357; XIX 616; Rel. Pieces Thornton MS. 59/13; Rom. Rose B 5614; C 6078, 6519; Lay Folks' Cal. Th. 360 &c. &c. The second phrase is met with: Cursor M. 15661 C, F & G; Hampole's Prose Treatises p. 12; Rom. Rose B 2787; rhaucer, Cant. T. C 6581 ; Alexius Vernon & Laud MS. 108, I. 300 (without dat.) &c. Now the fact that beside the parallel phrases nede habben and nede is + dative there was a verb neden no doubt led to the formation of the denominative myster, which, like neden, originally was a type A verb. It does not appear to have conie into use till about the end of the 141b century.
Wars of Alex. 4281 (Ashm.), I'.f mistris neuire na medcyne for malidy on erthe.
Vork Myst. Plays 57/54 What mystris /ie ?
Secreta Secretorum 2«<1 transl. 104/29, ]>e enchauntere rade on his mule, |iat bar him wlianne hym mystercd by |>e way.
Aymon 129/14, For it mystrelh me wel.
Eneydos 62/3, What mystreth him to edifie ('artage?
27. neden, 'be necessary'.
The O. E. verb neadian, niedan means 'compel', a signification which neden also often has in early M. E. (in Aneren Riwle exclusively!). In late O. E. the verb, also occurs in the sense of 'be necessary', which is not a further development of the original sense, but is only the consequence of the O. E. noun nied (nead, neod) having two meanings: 'compulsion' and 'necessity'. Two instances of this second sense are found in vol. II p. 89 of Grein-Wulker's. Bibl. d. Ags. Prosa (Rule of St. Benet, ed. Schrüer) 'on cealduni eardum neodait, l^t jiar-s reafes mare sy; on hleowfaestum la's. l);rs abbodes foresceawunge sceal beon be |iysum, hu \a?s neodige'. A constructions cannot be instanced froni O. E., and even in M. E. they


do nut appear to have been usual till a compuratively lale date. There is a sentence in the Cotton Hom. (E. E. Hom.) p. 217: 'I.laford to mine góde ne beniêdctl /«■', wliich may be considered an early instance of the A construction. The following examples are ali at least a century later.
N. E. Eeg. 32/122, Mc nedcs nogh|t| so fer to fraync.
Hampole, Works 1 p. 113. Rawl. MS., Now j>c ncdis to help lȕ-self.
Id. Ibid I 227, hym nedidc to hafe wysdome.
Hampole, 1'rose Treatises p. 32, it nedys to hym to do many gud werkis.
Will of Pal. 5315. echo barn ... was purueyed prestly
of al 1 >at hem neded.
Rom. Rose C 5990, him sJwl nedeti fetheres 1110.
('haucer, Boethius 111 pr. III 76, him nedede non hel]).
Id. Troil. & Cris. IV 1344, Us neded for my wending nought to care.
ld. Cant. T A 4020, hem nedede no gyde; etc.
Gower Conf. Am. \ l 726, lhus have 1 lacke of that mc nedetk.
Destr. of Troy 5163, hit nedis vs to haue ff ode till our folke.
Hoccleve, Reg. of Pr. 210, />e nedi/) a gyde.
Secr. Secretorum 2«»d transl. 63/35, yf \>t nedys of a woman, drawe to |>e to here |»at |>ow trowys trewe.
Ibid. 102/9, l>at nedys pe; 103/2, hym nedys to werkys.
Ibid. 3rd transl. 155/18. Thegh a man haue neuer so good fortune, hym nedyth of Purveyance.
Ibid. 187/3, of veleyny the nedyth to kepe.
Ibid. 195 32, tak thou medesyne what the nedith.
28. plesen, 'please'.
This verb cannot be said to have supplied a want in M. E., in fact it is hard to assign any special reason for its introduction from O. F. (plaisir, pleisir, plesir) since there were already two verbs in M. E., listen and liken, that had about the same signification. It shows how irresistible the influx of O. F. words must have been. As, generally s)3eaking, plesen has preserved its original construction until the present day, it will be suf-


ficier.t to adduce a few instances of such phrases as underwent a change later on.
Iloccleve, Minor Poems III, 4'6 Despende on me a drope of thy largesse... if it thee lyke & plese.
Book of the Kn. of La Tour Landry 11/2, God yeuithe and sendithe where hym plesïthe.
Generydes 443, mjy message wold I say, if it yow please.
Ibid. 824, If it please yow ye may respite his payn; similarly 1390, 1394, 1523. 1734, 1786, &c.
Ibid. 1245, when ener it please yow do so meche for me.
Ibid. 6529,... as it please yow to do.
Merlin 253/18, cheseth with yow soche as yow pleseth.
Ibid. 302/32,... yef it plese hym. -— Yef it plese yow occurs 51/1, 81/27, 86/29, 169/7, 230/3 &c.
Caxton, Reynard, p. 72, he shall werke and avenge it as it plesyth hym.
29. semen, 'seem, appear'.
O. E. seman, connected with the noun som, 'concord, agreemcnt, reconciliation', and the adverb same, 'similarly', means 'conciliate, settic, arrange', so that the M. E. and Mod. E. signification cannot be considered a development of the sense of the O. E., verb. In early M. E. semen often means 'be suitable, fitting, convenient, becoming', e.g. Juliana 54- we^ semed to beon swuch streon; Cursor Mnndi 3311 C, all hir dedis can hir seme ; a late instance is found in Cleanness (E. E. All. P.) 793, wel hit hem semed, and a still later one in üestr. 'of 7 roy 3046, Hir nose... was... nawther to wide no to wan, but as hom wel semyt. Sim. Ibid. 3832. 1 even have one dating from 1576: hit seemes hir well, Phy, phy, phy, phy, to sing (Gascoigne, Compl. of Phil. p. 111). Now O. N. sa ma has exactly the same meaning, so that M. E. semen 'be suitable &c' is not a continuation of O. E. seman, but a Scandinavian loanword. *) It seniel> = 'it suits, it is becoming, it has a pleasing appearance', soon got a more general meaning, that of 'appear', as in Orm's Dedication 66,... alls it scmc])j>; Gen. & Exod. 2169 It semet wel fc,at ge spies ben; Havelok 978,lian
*) Cf Bjürkuiau. Luan Word», p. 81 and 21!).


he was shrid, so semede he; Cursor Mundi 2751 C, lt senies not to be l>i will. Ibid. 5749 C, J»e tre |>at semcd to bren; Cf. Ibid. 13806, 21456. 24584. — Prov. of St. Bet nar d, Digby MS. (Anglia III) 100, Fals he his and feir he seine/t. A constructions do not occur till after 1300. The following are the earliest I have found.
Cursor Mundi 3284 C, Hit semed na wight to be wilde; other texts similar.
Ibid. 26386 C, ypocrites J>at wald ai wrenlc |>air aun wittes For to san pam-self god and Iele; other t. sim.
Will. of Pal. 1686, l>e brennest best |>e beres me se uien.
Ibid. 2413, me senieth it jiè best to buske vs of |ie bcre felles.
Wars of Alex. 862, mee seevied (iat tyme, ThatI sawe |ie God go graith too hur bedde.
Dest. of Troy 198, He were seker as hym semeyd for sight of him euer.
Ibid. 530, Hit sittes, me semeth to a sure knyght... To be counseld.
Ibid. 2431, Hit semil me for certayn.
Chaucer, IIous of Fame 1525, Right swiche a maner murmuringe, For al the world, hit semed me.
Id. Cant T. A. 39, Me thinketh it accordaunt to resoun, To telle yow al the condicioun of ech of hem. so as it semed me.
Id. Ibid. F. 56. Hem semed han geten hem protecciouns Agayn the swerd of winter kene and cold. Cf. Conf. Am. 1 1891; IV 1774; V 4365.
30, smerten, 'cause pain'.
1 niention this verb here, because in O. E. it lias hitherto only been met with in the compound fyr smeortende.
A constructions are frequent in M. E., but most of them are not suitable for my purpose, as an alteration of spelling would transform them into modern English, as, S. E. Leg. 379 90, |>at him smert ful sore; Prov. of Hendyng 172, Holde ich nonion for onsele, 0|>erwhyle l>ah he fele Sum|iyng jiat him smert e. This is not the case with the following ones.
O. E. Hom. II 21/27, Hire ne oc, ne ne smeart.


Ancr. Riwle 23S 29, Me zvelcd hit bitterliche smetten.
Prov. of Alfred. 243, By-hud hit on Jiirc here;) at pc eft ne smert e.
S. E. Leg. 482/11, |io him smert sore.
Minot's Poems V 13, Sare it pain smerted [»at fered out of Fraunce.
Piers PI. A III 161, |ie pore may haue 110 pouwer to playne, 110113 hem smerte.
Chaucer, Cant. T. A 230, he may not vvepe al-thog him sore smerte.
Ibid. A 1394, Now trewely, how sore that me smerte, t' Athenes right now wol I fare.
31 wanten, 'be deficient'.
Of Scandinavian origin; O. N. vanta from vant, the neuter form of the adj. vanr. corresponding to O. E. wana, which is used both as a noun and as an adjective, in both cases often accompanied by a dative, e. g. Boethius 22/20, ]'8es anes hire is nu wana. Mal. XIX 20, (Corp.) hwaet is me gyt wana? Mark X 21 = Lttkc XVIII 22, An |iing pc is wana; Lnke XXII 35, waes eow asnig ]»ing wana? The verb wanten makes its appearance in the beginning of the 13th century.
Ureisun of uwe Lefdi (O.E. Hom I) 73, heo sigge^ alle J>et <te ne wonted neuer ore.
Sawles Warde (O. E. Hom. I) p. 253, ne schal ham neauer wontin.
Gen. & Exod. 2244 hem \or—of ne ze 'ante now.
Ibid. 2995, hem wantede might and sped.
Poems Harl. MS. 2253, 165 34, .->ef me shal wonte wille of on, [>is wunne weole y wole forgon.
Cursor Mundi 16547 C, suilk a tre pam wanted al 1; other texts similar; so 8782.
Alexius Ashm. MS. 42 (in Horstm. Ae. Leg. Neue F.) 1. 34, paim wantid nathinge in erthe bot ane.
Will. of Pal. 176, wanted him neuer one.
Ibid. 4969, ne wanted hem no-)»ing |iat l>ei wold haue.
Eng. Works of Wyclif 420/29, hem wantij) teching to wende to heuene bi cristes weye.
Ibid. 433/11, for |iis good maner man ha|> meede, & ,"(if he faylij) hym ivantip meede.


Chaucer, Cant. T. B 2270 ther nis no creature so good that kim ne wanteth somwhat of the perfeccioun of god.
At flrst lackcn and wanten were quite synonymous; in later M. E. wanten acquired a secondary sense; vie tvantej) often nieant not only 'I have not', but also 'I wish to have. I he transition was an easy one, and is strikingly illustrated by a comparison of the above quotation from the Ashmole version of Alexius (2nd quarter 14th cent.) with the corresponding passages in the other versions, I.aud 108 & \ ernon 1. 32, ( otton 1- 33 & 34- Laud 463, and Trinity 1. 28 & 29; Laud 622 1. 106 & 107, in which we are told that Alexius' parents prayed God to send them a child.
CHAPTER III.
The General Causes of the Transition.
32. The most potent cause of the transition has already heen referred to (§ 3). We must now go more ftilly into this matter.
Whenever the third pers. sing. present of any of the verbs and phrases under consideration was acconipanied by a noitn in the singular, confusion was likely to arise, and was inevitable whenever the noun preceded the verb, as:
Prov. of Alfr. (O. E. Misc.) Jesus MS. 75, je eurl and />c fjulyng ilmrej) vnder godne king |iat lond to lede.
Chaucer, Pari. of F. 101, 102, The juge dremeth how his plees ben sped; The carter dremeth how his cartes goon.
Gower, Conf. Am. I, 239, Supplaunt with his slie caste
Full ofte happeneth for to mowe Thing which another man hath sowe.
Myr. of oure Ladye 8, 9,... if eny suche persone happen to se this boke...
Libell of Eng. Pol. 120, what hath than Flaundres. be Flemminges leef or lothe, But a litel madere and Flemish clothe.
Hoccleve, Minor P. XX 269, 27o, Well ny eny wyght forto comune with me lothe is.
N. E. Leg. 33/229, |iat mi lord likes to hauc.
Ü. E. Hom. I p. 187, hwinis me bitter al |iet m flehs likes.


Alex. & Dind. 414, thei ben kindely coren as heucnc king liklis.
Ibid. 445, whan god Hkep from lif lede vs to blisse we liggen doun.
Cleanness 1726, Jiise ar ]>e wordes hcre wryten withoute werk more, By uch fygure, as I fynde, as oure fadcr lykes.
Chaucer, C&nt. T. G 239, god lykctli the requeste.
Hoccleve, Reg. of Pr. 727, His grac'c liki/t jiat.
O. E. Hom. I, p. 103, l>an tnon ne lust on his liue man god don.
Chaucer, Troil. & ('ris. I 518,... hem that Love list febly for to avaunce.
Id. Cant. T. B 3185, foriune list to flee.
Id. Ibid. B 3380, fortunc list to glose.
Gower, Conf. Am. VII 4023, thanne a king list noght to plie...
Hoccleve, Minor P. III 107, Wilful youthe not obeie lest.
Id. Ibid. XIX 27, lier lady lust to shew her grace.
Id. Ibid. XXI 212, If god his grace lyst ther-to me lene.
Id. Ibid. XXI 287, whan god list it fall.
Myr. of oure Ladye 42/34, Slouthe by whiche a dullarde lyste not to laboure.
Ibid. 49/7, god lyste not to here his prayer.
S. E. Leg. 431/374, J>e soulc longueth |)are-afturward.
Shoreham, Seven Sacr. 193, heuene blisse |>at many a man after longeth. Wel sore...
Conf. Am. VI 2414, min her te sore longeth 'lo wite what it wol de mene.
Rob. of Br. Handlyng Synne 3459, |iat pore pryde, god hyt lojtcs.
Destr. of Troy 11984, To se hit lenie 011 a low. laithes not /ti hert?
Conf. Am. VII 3786, This tale nedeth noght be glosed.
Secr. Secretorum, 2ud transl. 74 19, if a man nede to cast, be it in ]>e mydouernone.
Curs. Mundi 29077 C, drunkun mans orisun wantes al right deuocion.


Alex. & Dind. 860, Whan a ivolf wan lep [h]is fode, ... of ]>e erjte he et.
Chaucer Cant. T. H. 338, In muchel speche sinne v/anteth nought.
Wright's Chaste Wife 552, my hert is wondyr wo.
In a sentence like the following one, too, the noun may be either nominative or dative:
Chaucer, Boethius IV, pr. II 6, shrewes lakken never1110 hir medes.
lt is worth noting that in the Northern dialect the noun niight be in the plural just well as in the singular:
N. E. Leg. 9/190. Men lathes to luke on my body.
33. As in the preterite the 3rd pers. sing. and the 3rd pers. pl. had the same form, a peterite acconipanied by a singular ur a plural noun would also be a cause of confusion ; the same holds good with respect to a plu perfect (= had + past part.) and a noun.
Havelok 2101, 1'an birde (MS. bir]>e) men casten hem in poles.
Patience 507, [te sor of such a swete place burde synk to my hert.
Merlin 3 33, Know ye ought what thise bestes eiled?
Gen. & Exod. 2095, Do drempte pharaon king a drem.
Cleanness 557, |»e soucrayn in sete so sore for-po-t jiat &c.
Book of the Kn. of La Tour Landry 112/6, a goodly lady... happed to plonge and to falie in a depe pitte.
Destr. of Troy 10288, Miche harme liappit to falie 011 aither parte.
Brunne, Handl. Synne 1142, [>tjs man. ...For thoght |»at he öaf so meche liys sonc.
Gaw. & Gr. Kn. 346, |»at my Icggc lady lyked not ille.
Ibid. 893, sawes so si er; er, jtat \>c segge lyked.
Cleanness 411, Hym a^t-sum in |>at ark as ajwl god lyked.
Tale of Gamelyn 52, the kriight liked it right noght.
Ibid. 618, Adam the spenser likede ful ylle.
Chaucer, Cant. T. B 2254, dame Prudence... hadde herd al that hir housbonde lyked for to seye.


Generydes 5429> Clarionas seide neuer a worde ageyn The whiche Mirabell lilced neuer a dele.
Gen. & Exod. 4011' Balaac misliked al Ovis que&e.
Cant. T. B 477, God liste to shewe his wonderful miracle. ('List' is of ten used as a preterite, e-g. Leg. of Good 11'. 2249, Juno list nat at the feste be; Cant. T. B. 3709, fortune list no lenger The hye pryde of Nero to cheryce).
Destr. of Troy 2914, So longed this lady with lust to the Temple.
Ibid. 13505, Sore longet the lede lagher to wende.
Conf. Am. I 2876, Daniël was wonder loth.
Gesta Rom. p. 391, Euery man, that knewe here, lothcd here company.
Chaucer, Cant. T. F. 201, It was of Fairye as the peplc scmed.
O. E. Hom. I p 45, Jia wcs Sanctc Paul swi\e iva.
King Horn 121, Camb. MS., Ofte hadde hom beo wo.
Laud MS., Ofte hauede horn c/iiltl be wo.
Harl. MS., Ofte hade horn be wo.
Ibid. 291 C, jtc stuard was in herte wo. Other MSS. similar.
Ibid. 459 C, Horn in herte was ful wo. Other MSS. similar.
Bruce X 464, his fais thar-of was wa.
Emare 925, The kyng yn herte was full woo.
Ibid. 763, Then was [>e steivardcs herte wo.
Alexius Laud MS. 622,1 5II. [10 raas Alexius swijte woo.
Chaucer, Rom. Rose 312, was never wight yit half so wo.
Beves of Hamt. Manch. MS. 1357, Than was losyan woo I-nou,^e
Cursor Mundi 2473 C, |iat land to leind lot thoght best; F, G & T similar.
Ibid. 3312 C /«' sargant thoght it sclli queme; other texts similar. — See further
Ibid. 4549, 10245, 11091, 11445. 16159, 16345.
Chaucer, Troil. & Cris. V 1632, This Troilus this lettre thoughte al straunge.
34. Occasionally we find the verb accompanied by an


auxilitiry; this, too, was a source of confosion, as the following quotations show.
Metr. Paraphr. of Rolle's Form of Living, (Hamp. Works. II), p. 314, on |>ir maners... may men dreme when l»at {»ai slepe.
Alex. & Dind. 404, A lud mihte like to louen him ]»e bettere.
Brunne, Handl. Synne 387, on syxe maners may a man mete.
Conf. Am. VII 4550, that oghte every king to lothe.
Sir Cauline (Percy's Rel.) 1 57, ever and aye my heart wold rite.
Ibid. II 16, rewe shall thy ladie.
Proems from Harl. MS. 2253, 197/18, 19, wel wel oghte myn herte for his love to smette.
C'urs. Mundi 18625 C,Lang Adam thinc [ie space;
other MSS. similar.
Secr. Secret, ist transl. 18 5, thus shalle [tou stonde in love and preysing, and euery man ioth to do the offence.
An uninflected pronoun instead of a noun would have the same result:
Cursor Mundi 9618 C & G, Hu sal ojierrett ofhimoght
Ibid. 24087 C, ttan on him ivald reit; other MSS. similar
Morte Darthur 203/17, ony of them will be loth to haue adoo with...
35. On account of their extremely frequent occurrence, that, ivhoso, and a few other non-inflected pronouns, must have been largely instrumental in bringing about the transition. The following quotations will bring this fact home to any one.
O. E. Hom. I, p. 145, wa is [>an rnon \>at wa is.
Havelok 2761, to [ie quen he sende him, luit birde wel to him ben grim.
Shoreham's Poems 578, So his |>is metc dampnacion To hem />at senne like ft To holde.
Surtees Psalter LXVII 7, Als-swa |iai pat smertes ai
Bruce I 445. Lordinges, qttlta likis for till her, The Ronianys now begynnys her.


Metr. Hom. p. 23, Hali Kirk jiat bers afbaret be ful irk. (Matzner.)
Conf. Am. IV 2815, He seith often,' Have good day', That loth is forto take his leve.
Ibid. V 7030, What man /hut ther after longeth He takth non hiede what he doth.
Ibid. VII 2029, who that nedeth, In al his werk theworse spedeth.
Chau'-er, Troil. & Cris. I 797, thou lyest as he that list of no-thing recche.
Id., Hous of F. 511, every maner man... that... listeth of my dreem to lere...
Id., Leg. of G. W. 1407, ther nis noon that liste been his fo.
Id., Cant. T. G 1344, Nas never noon that luste bet to singe.
Rel. Pieces Thornton M S. 95/243, Luke ,~e releue ilke a lede /uit lykes "oure la re.
Hoccleve, Minor P. XIX 317, who so that lyketh therin for to rede...
Id. Ibid. XXII 4<S,... a turtle that lakk'tth liir feere in your absence.
Secr. Secret. 3rd transl. 131/23, who-so yewyth hyme that neddyth noght... that yefte is loste.
Lydgate, London I.yckp. St. 3, he that lacht mony might not spede.
C'haucer, Cant T. A. 3176, who-so list it not y-here Turne over the leef.
Id., Ibid. B 3509,... who-so list hem for to rede.
Who-so list further occurs Kom. Kose A 14, B 2153; Osber Bokenam's Legends XI 616; Hoccleve, Ballad 24 2; Libcll of Eng. Pol. 683, 774; Gcnerydes 2305 &c.
Cursor Mundi 16862 C, |»at mani thoght gret ferli; other MSS. same.
Alexius, Ashm, MS., 42, 1. 156, Full raggid and riuen was his clathis And full of vermyne, |iat many lalhis.
Pall. on Husb. X 65, in weet it liketh growe.
Fire of Love 82/21, it (= J>e mynde) Hkys notto behold lustis of |iis exile.


Gesta Rom. p. 335, After it (the Stone) happed to falie on his feters.
Cursor Mundi 800 C, Aiefter thoght of ojiere scham; F similar, G & T diff.
Ibid. 12078 C, All thogt it selcut jiat Jtar were.
Malory, Morte Darthur 279 2, ony of hem will be loth to haue adoo with.
36. Perhaps the pronoun who ought also to have been mentioned in the preceding paragraph; before a verb it was so often left uninflected in Middle English, that we are not justified in considering who list &c 'personal' on account of the form of the pronoun. Jespersen, after adducing one instance of hwo punched (from Ancr. R.) and two of who-so list (froni Chaucer) says:' These we may consider either the oldest examples of who as an accusative (centuries before any hitherto pointed out), or else the oldest examples of O. E. pyncan and lysten used personally.'
This is a striking instance of the blunders that even an acute observer like Prof Jespersen may commit, when he founds his statements on insufficiënt data. As I shall show later on, list was already in use as a 'personal' verb nearly a century before Jespersen's 'oldest examples' were written ! There is, therefore, no objection against who so list being looked upon as a 'personal' construction, only this opinion must not be based upon the uninflected form of the pronoun, for who so is generally left uninflected in the accusative. Still who so list, on account of its frequent occurrence, undoubtedly accelerated the shifting process. The same holds good with respect to who list, which is already met with in the N. E. Legends: luke who list (2 369)Further instances are found in Piill. on Hitsb. I, 846; Henrysone, Test. of Cresseid 223; Lydgate, Rcson & Sens. 1475, 1555, 3133 &c. The following quotations contain who in connection with like and happen.
N. E. I.eg. 29 9, lt was ordan. who lykes to luke, For resons foure, we fïnd in buke.
Pall. on Husb. IV 1945, withouten seede who liketh hem to kepe, with oil sabyne enoynte her seede.
Ibid XI 343; who liketh have that crafte may lerne it here.


Lanc. of the Laik, 2191, In this pastig who lykith for to wend?
Bruce XIII 176, Quhci hapnit in that ficht to fall, I trow agane he suld nocht ris.
Destr. of Troy 5943, ivho happit hym to hitte harmyt nomo.
37. Type A verbs sometimes enter into objective with infinitive constructions. In such constructions it is impossible to gathér from their form whether the objective is governed by the preceding finite verb or by the infinitive following. We niay, however, safely assume that the fact that in other cases the objective belonged to the preceding verb, while in its turn it governed the infinitive (instead of being governed by it, as in 'that made me to mete'), helped ultiniately to subvert the original relation between the infinitive and its complement in the case of type A verbs.
Govver, Conf. Am. VI 2139, The king he torneth at his wille And maketh him forto dreme.
Hampole, Works I p 148, |ie ."ernynge god lias to ]ie ... makis ]w bitterli to J'or- Think )>i syn.
Metr. Paraph. of Rolle's Form of Living (Hamp. Works II) 265, he sekes to... ger vs la the with oure awin state.
Will. of Pal. 546, he mist ful wel for a fol me hold & do hint loftc mi loue.
Ibid. 638, A ful selcou|>e sweuene set sche him to mete.
Ibid. 862 Alysaundrine . .. wi|i liere whiles dcdc WilHam to mete.
Chaucer, Pari. of F. 108, that made me to mete.
ibid. 115, thou madest me this sweven for to mete.
Cursor Mundi 24054 C, do os to reu al wit |ii reuth.; other MSS. same.
Hamp. Works I 119, [>is agth haf made Jte rei i'onme.
Cant. T. A. 2382, I preye thee to reivc up-on my pyne.
1'rov. of Mend. 76, Hit doj> />e sou/e smerte.
I'oems Harl. MS 2253, 131/168, hit is lutel wunne, jiat makej) /te body smerte.
Pride of Life 63. hit made him to smert.


Chauc. Troil. & Cris. III 1182, that I have do you smette, Foryeve it me.
Ibid. IV 1448, ye me cause so to smerte.
38. In the Blickling Homilies we fin cl the following sentenee: Se man naefre to\on leof ne bi\ his nehmagum & his worldfreondum, ne heora nan hine to ]t£es swijte ne lufa\ [itet hc sona sy]>[>an ne sy onscungend seo|>|tan se lichoma & se gast gedaelde bco[i, & jtinat his neawist lajtliko & unfwger (p. 111) Here jiincit is not accompanied by a dative, or rather, the dative is understood from the preceding he. Similar constructions occur in early M. E.:
Passion of our Lord (O.E. Misc.) 611, 612, Hco hit nyleuede, ]>e more ne | e lesse Ac j>uhte muche wunder of heore gladnesse.
Halj Meidenh. 27/11, Nu jm hauest iseid tus & j>unched ]iat tu segges so\.
Ibid. 43 '18—21, Sone so [m telles te betere [ien an o^er & hauest of eny ouerhoke & jnincheit hofies & hoker of ewt |iat mon sei\ Jie o\er de\ .",ette, I»u marres ti meidenhad.
Vices & Virtues 81/16, 17, I'u miht isien sum wel wis clerec, ite wisliche him naht ne wissed, and piiic/i i\at he hafi\ inoh."on his witte ^e he caun.
/>incj), in the last quotation, may be the representative of O.E. fteticau; the other examples, however, are indisputable, and show that as early as in the beginning of the 13'h century the semi-personal use of /lunchen was not uncommon. In Gen. & Exod., dating from the middle of the 131I1 century, there are two instances that show a still nearer approach to the 'personal' construction; a similar 011e is afforded by the N. E. Legends.
1099, Loth tc'tis wansutn and tlugte long vp to v\e dunes Cve weie hard and strong;
1961, He missed Ioseph and tlhogte swend;
cf. 391, of poradis hem ttinkett swend.
N. E. Leg. 17/575 1'e king it saw and thoght ferli. 3g. Until the end of the 13th century ftunchen was the only type Averb that was thusjoined to a personal verb; this was owing partly to its freVa n der U a a f. Transition. 3


quent employment, and partly perhaps to syntactical confusion with the allied verb jtenchen. Aft er 1300 other type A verbs also enter into constructions like those quoted above. This shows that the difterence between type A and 'personal' verbs was beginning to be lost sight of; most of the fornier, in fact, were already used'personally' now and then; still, to contend that in the following quotations lopen etc. are 'personal' verbs, would be stretching the point too far.
Surtees Psalter LIX 1, pon ert wrath with vs, and mves of vs.
Poems Harl. MS. 2253 1096, y shal falie hem byfore & lurnen huere lay, and reiveti alle huere redes.
Hamp. Works I, p. 50 Camb. MS., he es ay his lufe thynkand, and oft-syth |iarof es dremande; Rawl. MS. 011 p. 385 similar.
Id. Ibid. p. 290 (= Pr. Treat. of Rich. Rolle of Hamp. p. 41), .">a sumtyme when li(it) hase maste devocyone and ware latheste forto leue it; Vernon MS. similar.
Cursor Mundi 49712 C, first he ivald Jiam mak agast And si{>an reu on jiam atte last; other texts similar.
Ibid. 5803— '4 T, he ys ful fira & laji zvil be to lete ham ga.
Gestes of Alis. 776, Jte Ladie lay 011 hur bed & lysted too slepe.
Alex & Dind. 212, god aloïceji ,~our lif & like]> ,~our dedis.
Ibid. 315—'17, T 'o godus pay is our peple in bettur point founde, Hirn to lonen as hur lord & like liini to sevue, |ian fale o|>ir folk ben.
Bruce, XI 543, I11 gret hye teen/ he ... Anoyit in his hert and wa.
Piers PI. B, Prol. 72, I.eived men leued hym wel and lyked his wordes.
Ibid B V 4, |ianne zuakrd 1 of my wynkynge and wa t^as with-alle.
Ibid. C XXIII 195, Site louede me fore and leef was to feele ...


Chaucer, Troil Cris. III 452, She with him spak, whan that sche dorste or leste.
Id., Hous of F. 509—'11, Now herkneth, every maner man That English understonde can And listeth of my dreem to lere.
Id. Cant F. 1312—'13, My righte lady... Whom I most drede and love as I best can And lothest were of al this world displese.
Gower, Conf. Am. I 2704—'i, Sche saide it was noght for his sake, And liste noght my songes hiere.
Destr. of Troy 4016, ho was... witte to wale, wanted 110 thewes.
Ibid. 12342, ye left bene in land. and lakkys a hecle.
Ibid. 13255, I sailed forth soundly on the Sea occian. ...And hap pit to light In an yle.
Hoccleve, Minor P. II 59, ful heuy he was, & it forthoghte.
Ibid. IX, 59—60, mtj sight blyue hastith me fro, And lakkith jiat Jtat scholde his comfort be.
Ibid. XXIII 521, They looke a-part, and list lake no yeeme.
Torrent of Port. 2306, His son herd hym say soo Atid in his hert was full woo.
M. E. Rule of St. Benet 432, [»at j>at er hard & lath to lere, J>am sal scho chasti.
Secr. Secret. ist transl. 71/8, hit (fiat syde) ys cold and nedeth to be het; cf. 3 ''<1 transl. 242/12-13, that syde is moste colde and moste ncdyth to be ychafit.
Ibid. 3rd transl. 136/29, al the roialme thanne rumonrt and lothit for that rousty synne.
Myr. of oure Ladye 63/21, the corrupte body is so heuy, and lothe to alle verteu (lothe adj.)
Generydes 458—'9, Whanne he was come the kyng beheld hym well And liked hym right wele in euery thyng.
Ibid. 471—'2, The quene beheld G. so well And liked hym so wele in his service.
Gesta Rom. p. 295., he iveut to l>edde, and tooke a slep And dremyd this.


Ibid. 307, my fadir is a riche lord, and nedith not of his goode.
40. Among the instances quoted in the preceding eight paragraphs I have, for completeness' sake, adduced a few in which the verb precedes its complement; in all of them, however' this 'inverted' word-order is owing to an ad verb opening the sentence. In the case of nonnally constructed sentences I have purposely excluded those in which the verb comes first, as these could not be instrumental in bringing about the transition: the noun or pronoun would have continued to be regarded as a complement, as a direct or an indirect object of the verb.
In M. E. the fixity of word-order increased in the same proportion as the inflectional endings wore off; and as nouns lost their dative and accusative endings very soon (vvith the exception of an occasional dative c in the sing.), it became expedient, if not necessary, to indicate the relation between a verb and its object by post-position of the latter, both in principal sentences and dependent clauses. Pronouns, even those tliat had retained an objective form, gradually conformed to this practice, and thus the rule was established that pre-verbal pronouns should have the nominative form, while in the post-verbal position the objective form, if they had one, was required.
As in O. E. and early M. E. the dative function was always expressed by flexion, the difference between direct and indirect object would have been completely obliterated, if at the time when the latter — as well as the direct object — had its tixed place in the sentence assigned to it, prepositions had not in many cases supplied the place vacated by the vanished dative endings. No doubt,: the influence of Anglo-Norman, too, was a potent factor in bringing about the introduction of this syntactical novelty. These two causes combined give rise to constructions like the following:
Hamp. Works, I p. 270, I hope it is gilde to Juime. Id. Ibid. I p. 285, o>ito pe it is gilde for to hafe in mynde his manhede sumtyme.
Chaucer, Cant. T. R 3031, it ivere bettre for yow to lese so muchel good of youw owene.


Rum. Rose B 3266, to thee [it] bcttcr is Fro.ii these folk awey to fare.
Orol. Sap. 347/34, hit is beste to me for to seye with |ie prophete .. .
Ibid. 360/10, hit hadde be beller to me 3if l had neuer be borne.
Book of the Kn. of La Tour Landry 44 9, it were bel ter to you, that ye lacked to here an hundred masses.
Gesta Rom. p. 199. Harl. lie thowte. [>at hit u/er beste for kim to go his olde frende; cf. Add., he thought it is beller to me now for to goo to my frende.
Ibid. p. 201, Harl. hit is beste for me that I now opyn my synne.
Ibid. p. 337, Add.. it is good to you to graunte hym the Empire.
Ibid. p. 387, Add., It had ben better for the for to haue had |ii life.
Ibid. p. 402, Add., Therfore it is better to me to be-leue wele.
Merlin 2514, It were best for vs to sle him.
M. E. Rule of St. Benet II 2053, oftsithes sall be sene ... no gude ] at to Jtam maij gaijne.
Henrysone, Fables 80, Thocht I the find, thow gauis not for me.
Ibid. 112, Thow gauis not for me, no I for the.
Monk of Evesham p. 50, hyt happid vnto me also in myne laste ende that etc.
Ayenbite, p. 210, na,~t ne lackejt to ham |»at louiel» god.
Ibid. p. 256. Senekes zay[» Jiet [ie ne lacke[> to greate /hordes: bote zoji ziggers.
Chaucer, Cant. T. F 498, ther lakketh nothing to tlajn ut ter yen.
Secr. Secret. 31'd. transl. 161/10, I shall show the what is hit that thynge that lackyth vnto ham that haue al richesis in Possession.
Govver, Conf. Am., II 209, it is unwys vengance which to non other man is lief.
Id„ Ibid. V 6564, — sche that is to me most lief; sim. V 6751 ; VI 639.


Id. Ibid. VII 1724, trouthe which is lief lo god and ek to man also.
Secr. Secret. 3rd transl. 173/31. Lener is hit lo me. to comaunde tho that the golde haue.
Ibid. 175/36, Lener was to ham to suffyr grete myssayse.
Ayenb. p 80, Jiet is jie zojie vayrhede, hucrwore [ie zaule to god li keft.
Ibid. p. 187, ase merci lykcp to god alsuo hit ne likt'jt nojiing to l,c dyeule, cf.
Ibid. p. 192, nc likcjt noping god; sim. ex. p. 210.
Ibid. p. 202, wyl>-oute clene invvyt, no chasteté ne lykep to god.
Chaucer, Cant. T. I 1008, thou art bounde to shewen him al the remenaunt of thy sinnes... but-if it lyke lo thee of thyn humilitee.
Id. Ibid. B. 2934, it lyke un-to your grete goodnesse to ful&llen in dede your goodliche wordes.
Id. Ibid. B 2956—'57. we been redy to comen, what day that it lyke un-to your noblesse to limite us or assigne us, for to maken our obligacioun and bond as strong as it lyketh un-to your goodnesse.
Id. Ibid. E 345, lt lyketh to your fader and to me That I yow wedde.
Gesta Rom. p. 48, hit liked to this emperour to knowe which of his doughters lovid him best.
Ibid. p. 263, this liketli wele to vs.
Gower, Conf. Am. VII 3724, it schall to ons alle lolhe.
Brunne, Handl. Synne 3701, ... one Jiat to pe is dedly lope.
Gesta Rom. p. 366, the bedde is lothc to ine.
Secr. Secret. 2»d transl. 97/8, V portours . . . to presente to him what ]>ing ys nnjster to him.
Ibid. 101/17, greet myster ys to pe, to haue conseill.
Aymon 141/5, borgons, thys worde mystre not to you for to saye.
Hampole, Works I, p. 124, It nedis to a saule Jierfor vse it-self how it may be fere fra syn. cf. Ibid. p. 126, It nedis a saul... for to lere trewly {>at he can nogth.


Hamp. Prose Treatises p. 32, it na lis to hym to do many gud werkis.
Merlin 412/7, thei fonde the loigginges well stuffed of al 1 that neded to man.
Wyclif, Mat. XIV 6, The dou,~ter of Erodias... pleside to Eronde.
Id. Mark VI 22, the dou.~ter of thilke Erodias hadde entrid yn, and lepte, and pleside to Eroude.
Merlin 123'34, nener wolde he... do nothynge that scholde to hym displese.
Caxton, Reynard, p. 39, thenne shewde he them lettres that plesyd moche to bruyn.
Wyclif, Mat. XVII 25, Symount, what semeth to thee?
Id. Ibid. XXII 17, Therfore seie to ve, what it semeth to thee.
ld. Ibid XXI 28 & XXII 42, what semeth to -011.■
Destr. of Troy, 2130, it sittes vs, as semith to me, ffor to purvey a pepull pruddest of werre.
Ibid. 4868, hit se mis vtito vs ]>ai are felcr of folkc.
Cursor Mundi 950 T, ]>i lif shal pinkc longe to pc.
Ayenbite p. 184, hit J>ing/> to pe fole |iet he is ine ri.~,te waye.
Two M. E. Hist. from Heil I 49, Woo bc to them, what-soo-euer they be.
Gesta Rom. p 15, Harl., woo bc now to ine and to pc; cf. Add., 7voo is the and me.
Ibid. p. 231, Harl. Al der moder, now is ivoo to 'J02V I nowe.
41. The above examples, if considered in connection with what lias been said in $ 2, show us that a verb that originally governed a dative, nrght develop in two direclions, and inight consequently give rise to two different constructions, viz:.
cl. the dative might become a nominative and the subject of the verb;
b. the verb might continue to govern its dative complement, which, however, became prepositional.
It is clear that verbs which were originally accompanied by an accusative.were not capable of such a twofold developïnent.


For convenience' sake I will henceforth indicate the different constructions the verbs under consideration enter into at various stages of their development as follows:
Type A. The verb governs a dative or an accusative, as met hink s, meseems, melis ts, it behoves me, woe is me.
Type B. The noun or pronoun connected with the verb may, as far as external evidence goes, be taken either for a nominative or for an objective, as, The wind bloweth where it listeth (John II 6).
Type C. The verb governs a prepositional dative, as, it seems to me; it happened to us; it is better for you.
Type D. The original dative or accusative has become a nominative with the verb for its predicate, as, he did just as he pleased; 1 like the book.
CHAPTER IV.
Detailed treatnient of the several verbs.
A. Verbs that have nut preserved the methinks comtruction.
42. As the various type A verbs and phrases did not all follow the same course of development, and as moreover several of them were subject to special influences, it will be necessary to treat them one by one. In doing so, 1 will generally quote them in their M. E., and more particularly, in their Midland fornis.
1. Me bur|>, burde.
43- I n the Southern dialects this verb soon became obsolete. It continued to be used as i-burc[>, iburd till about the middle of the 13th century (Lamb. Hom. p. 79; Dame Siriz 82). In later Southern English we find exclusively me behoveft, me besemej).
In the South-Midlands, too, the verb soon got disused. In Chaucer, Wyclif, Langland, Hoccleve and Lydgate I have not met with it, but in North Midland productions it is pretty frequent (Ormul. 2751 & 5570; Gaw. & Gr. Kn. 2278 & 2428;


Pettri 316; Patience 117.)- The D construction does not appear to have been in genera! use, although an early instance occurs in the Ormulum:... |iat alle... Well ."eorne birrdenn elennsenn hemm I bodi", & i sawle (4029).
In Northern English and especially in Scotch we fmd me birs in use throughout the M.E. period ('Cursor Mitndi i-'g88, 17162, 17164. 17172, 17533 \Metr. Hom. p. 10, p. 27, p. 84; Bruce VI 316; Ritlc of St. Bcnet 37/23). The following four quotations point to the fact. that in Scotch, at any rate, the D construction had become fairly usual before the verb became obsolete.
c. 1330 Metr. Hom. p. 12, Forthi bird we in bis cuming welcum him.
1375 Bruce. VI 316, Camb. MS., that byrd on na manner Dreid thair fais.
end 15H1 cent. Wars of Alex. Dubl. MS. 776, Of jiis
wonder he had & so he wele burd.
c. 1510 Gavin Douglas, King Hart 567, Thou bird think shame.
2. Me is good, better, best.
Me is leef, lever, levest.
44. It will be advisable to treat these two phrases together, as in their development they.have much in common; me is good &c. seems to have imitated me is leef &c„ so that the latter must engage our attention first.
Me is leef is not the only phrase used in M. E. to express 'it is dear to me, I love'; the same idea was conveyed by 'I hold it dear' e. g. Cursor M. 9962 C, we aght to hald it dere; the other texts have the same; Ibid. 25918 C, And aght man for to hald it dere; F. similar; — cf. St. Andrew & St. Veronica 3813, Heo hyt swy\e deorwyrjdice /<rr<?/rt^(quoted in Bosw. T.)
In the second half of the 13th century another phrase makes its appearance in literature, viz. / have leef, lever,levest identical with German lieb haben, Dutch liefhebben'hold dear, love"). Chaucer uses have lief in the sence of 'love' e. g. Troil.
1) Cl'. Wandsehneider, Zur Si/ntux des Verbs in Lanyleyt Vision. I)iss. Kiel 1887, p. 60: diese construction (i.e. have leef, lover), die dem ae. 1'remd ist, beruht jedent'alls aut' lïanzüs. eindiisx nnd entspricht at'rz. avoir ehier, dass allerdings mit dem iuliii. und ii verbanden «ird.


& Cris. III 864, If that ye suffre him al night in this wo, Gud help me so, ye had.de him never leef; Ibid. III 869, 870, Hadde I him never leef? By God, I vvene Ye luidde never thing so leef. Ibid. IV 1584, who-so wol han leef he leef mot lete. Cant. T. F 572, Ne never liadde I thing so leef, ne lever, as him.
The positive and the superlative do not of ten occur; have lever and had lever, however, are very frequent.
1280—'90 S. Eng. Leg. 94/79, ich habbe leovere jiat .",e hire ouer-come: with resones In some wise.
Ibid. 471/321, öuyt hadde ich leouere ich were ihald.
c. 1300 King Alis. 21, Feole & fille... hadde lever a ribaudye Than to haue God.
Ibid. 1234, Theo riche saide thei hadden sikirliche leovere steorve... than...
c. 1330 Flamp. Pr. Treat. p. 25, Thei had welle lever haue bene stille.
1340 Ayenbite p 31, Hi hadden leuere lyese vour messen jianne ane zuot o()er ane slep. c. 1350 Cursor M. 6235 T, we had leyver euermare to serue in egipte . .. Jien in |ie wildernes to dey; the other MSS. read vs lener war (were). 1350—'60 Will. of Pal. 438, i haue leuere Jiat loue jian lac al mi harmes.
Ibid. 546, ,"it haue y leuer deye.
Ibid. 918, I haue-leuer it layne & )iis langour |iole. 1377 Piers PI. B V 413. 1 haue lettere here an harlotrie or a somer-game of souteres.
1377—'81 Chaucer, Boethius, I, pr. V 12, 13, yif thou Itasl lever for to wene that thou be put out of thy contree, than hast thou put out thyself.
Ibid. II, pr. V 126, thou haddest lever rekne hem amonges thy richesses.
Ibid. III, pr. IX 100, he hath lever ben derk and vyl.
1379—'83 ld. Troil. & Cris. II 471, Yet have 1 lever maken him good cheer.
Ibid. II 1509, Yet hadde I lever unwist for sorwe dye.


13S5— '6 ld. Leg. of G W. 1536, He luidde lever him-self
to mordre, and deye...
138Ó— ? Id. Cant. T. B 3083, I hadde lever than a barel ale That goode lief my wyf hadde herd this tale! Ibid. B 4310, I hadde lever than my sherte That ye had rad his legende.
Ibid. D 168, Yet hadd \ lever wedde no wyf toyere!
Ibid. E 2163, Lever ich luidde dyen on a knyf, Than thee offende, trewe dere wyf !
Ibid. F 683, I luulde lever than twenty pound worth lond... He were a man of swich discrecioun As that ye been !
Ibid. F 692, he hath lever talken with a page. Ibid. F 1360, yet have I lever lese My lyf than of my body have a shame.
Ibid. F 1476, I hadde wel lever y-stiked for to be. Ibid. F 1531, I have wel lever to suffre wo Than I departe the love betwix yow two.
Ibid. F 1596, Arveragus Had lever dye... Than that his wyf were of hir trouthe fals.
Ibid. F 1600, she lever had lost that day hir lyf. 1393 Gower, Conf. Am. I 1511, This knyght hath levere forto deye than breke his trouthe.
Ibid. II 1582, hir herte drowh to... go wher she hadde levere.
Ibid. II 2418, yit hadde .1 levere 1 my simplesce forto die.
Ibid. III 479, I hadde levere to be lewed.
Ibid. IV 2747, I hadde levere be mi trouthe... Bothe yhen of myn hed were oute.
Ibid. V 86, I hadde hir levere than a myn of Gold. c. 1400 Destr. of Troy, 8049, I hade letter my lyf leue in this place, Than any lengur to lyffe & my luff tyne!
14— Torr. of Port. 320 I had levyr on a Day to fyght Than all my fathyrys lond.
Ibid. 1476, I had lever to haue that knyght. c. 1420 St. Editha 1613, letter he hadde to abyde ry.jt |>erc


Ibid. 1750, Myche lener he hadde to abydc stylle in hurre abbay.
1422 Secr. Secret., 3rd transl. 177/25, Marcus ('urius hath leuer to comaunde riche men than te be ryche; with which compare:
Hoccleve, Reg. of Princes 4040, Marcus Cursius lener is Richë men haue at his commandëment Than to be riche himself. ').
In later productions have (had) lever gets more and more usual, but it would take up too much space to give all the instances I have collected from Lydgate, Gay of Wants., Gesta Romanorutn, Book of the Krt. of La Tour Landry, Merlitt, Caxton etc.
45- F or more than two centuries me is lever and / have lever continued competing with each other. This, however, they did in a friendly spirit, for instead of each maintaining its individual character and fighting it out to the bitter end, they influenced one another, thus giving rise to blendings, viz., me had lever and l am lever.
The following instances show that the former of these expressions was at one time far from unusual.
c. 1300 Coer de Lyon 3502, Hym hadde lever have ben at
home (from N. E. D.)
c. 1400? Rom. Rose B 5392, Him hadde lever asondre shake, And late his limes asondre ryve, 1 han leve his richesse in his lyve.
1386— ? Chaucer, Cant. T. B 1027, 1 dar wel seyn hir hadde lever a knyf Thurgh-out her breste, than been a womman wikke.
ld. Ibid. E 444, She a doughter hath y-bore, Al. had hir lever have bom a knave child.
end 14 th c. Bev. of Hamt. 23 Sutherl. M. S., him hadde lener |ian al his londe, Hadde he hire for-sake; the Camb. M S. reads he hadde lever... and the Auchinl. M S. him hadde be lever..., cf. Cant. T. A 3541, Him had be lever... That she hadde had a ship herself allone.
1) Cf. also l'topin p. (i'2, of this mynde was the hardie and conragius Fabrice, when he sayde, that he hul nither h* a ruler of riche men, then be ryche liiniselfe.


c. 1400 Destr. of Troy 871 it Hom hade lener then the lond out of lyue be.
Ibid. 12813, had de lener haue lost all hir londhole.
c. 1400 Bone Flor. of Rome 1620, Me had levyr to be slayne.
c. 1400 Sowdone of Babylone 1417. Hint hadde lener to
haue bene dede Than suffren that myschief to be. c. 1440 Gesta Rom. p. 239, Me hadde lener lete my fote brynne in the fyr... than to withdrawe, & save hit. Ibid. p. 239, Me hadde levir lete hit Reyne hem (= myn yen) oute of the hede, than I turnid me o]»ere to the Right syde, or tho the left syde. c. 1450, Wars of Alex. 1465, me had lener be lethirely forsworn.
The illogical and anti-grammatical character of me had lever seems to have been brought home even to the mediaeval Anglo-Saxon, whose syntactical instinct does not seem to have been over-keen; perhaps his sense of right and wrong in matters of grammar had got bewildered in the strife among the various and sometimes conflicting tendencies at work during the process of fusion and moulding his mother tongue was undergoing. Me had lener became obsolete bef ore the end of the M. E. period.
46. It was survived by the other'blending'/ am leef, lever, although this one does not appear to have outlived the 15th century for many years either.
1303 Brunne, Handl. Synne 3017, ."if |>y prout wurdys make hym wroth Be jwn neuer lefe ne loth |iou synnest |>er gretly.
c. 135° Alex. & Dind. 838. Whi be -e, ludus, so lef to lakke |ie werkus |>at man-kinde haj» y-mad. 1386- ? Chaucer, Cant. I. A 3510, though I seye, I nam nat lief to gabbe.
c. 1400? Testament of Love II, X 71, he were lever unknovve.
c. 1400? Rom. Rose B 2335, He shal be leef ay for to yeve In Loves lore who so wolde leve.
end 14th c. Bev. of Hamt. 75, Lever he were to be dedd.


Line 1459 of Bev. of Hiimt. affords a striking illustration of the prevailing confusion.
Auchinl.: Hire were lener haue had lasse.
Camb.: Leuyr she were to haue had lass.
Manch.: Lener her were to haue lesse.
Oxf. printed copy: Lener she had withouten lesse. Ibid. 1850, Oxf., be he lef or be he lojie, ich wile ... cf. Auchinl.: Be kim lef and be him loj>e.
c. 1400 Destr. of Troy 11749, / my lyffe were lener leue in (ie plase.
1440 Generydes 5507, lucidas wlieder she was lefe or lothe She cowde not haue it for 110 maner thyng.
c. 1450 Towneley Plays IV 84, Yit were I leyffer my child were dede.
Ibid. IV 217, / were lener than all warldly wyn, That I had fon hym onys onkynde.
Ibid XII 193, / am lener etc.
c. 1489? Robyn Hood 895, They brought the monk to the lodge door, YVhether he were loth or lief.
In connection with loth 'I am lief' is often found in i6th eentury texts:
Hickescorner (Dodsley I) p. 180, Thou shalt abide, whether thou be lief or loth.
Sir Th. More, To them that Seke Fortune... hut be you liefe or lothe, Hold you content... (Cent. Dict.) Peele, Edward I p. 395, Strike, potter be thou lief or loth.
A curious instance is found in Caxton's BlancharcLyn: l were me lener ded than that I sholde byleue nor doo This cursed counceyll (185/32), evidently a blending of / were lener and were me lener.
47. The 'me is lever' construction, of which a few instances have been given in % 40, was doomed to share the fate of type D, so that in Mod. Kngl. only constructions with have are met with; have (had) lever (liefer) was in 11 se till about the end of t h e löth eentury; for late examples see N. E. D. sub lief. Shakespeare does not employ / had liefer, but / had as lief occurs a great many times in his works. This phrase is already met with in Chaucer:


Cant. T. D. 1574, heer woneth an old rebekke,
That had.de almost as lief to lose hir nekke As for to yevé a peny of hir good; cf.
Chester PI. III 99, I had as lief thou sleppit.
In Present Eng. I had as soon is more usual than 1 had as lief, although the latter vvill probably be in use for a long time to come in the proverb 'I had as lief be killed for a sheep as for a lamb'. In some parts of England — in the Midlands, for instance — it is still frequently heard in the spoken language : 'I had as lief stop at home'; 'he said, he had as lief die as do that'.
48. Si nee Fitzedward Hall published his paper On the Origin of Had ralher go (Am. Journ. of Phil. II) and Stoffel his on Had rather and analogous Phrases (Taalstudie VIII) it has been considered indisputable that I had rather is older than / would rather, that the latter, in fact, is only a corruption of the former. Storm says on p. 708 of his Engl. Phil., "Fitzevvard Ilall und Stoffel haben überzeugend gezeigt, dass I had rather, wie I had liefer, l had as lief, der alte Ausdruck war." Jespersen, Progress p. 226. 227 and Franz, Shakesp. Gratnm. p. 346, express the same view; the former observes: "it is interesting to notice how the feeling of the etymologica! connexion has been lost on account of the phonetic identity of the unstressed forms of had and would [ad]". Franz takes this hint and boldly asserts that this phonetic identity led to the substitution of woidd for had in the phrase in question. See also N. E. D. sub bet ter and lief.
49. It must be owned that this explanation, seems on the face of it, plausible enough; u-nfortunately it is diametrically opposed to facts. I had rather is not the older phrase of thetwo. I am in a position to prove that / would rather had been in constant use for about two centuries before l had rather made its appearance.
/ woidd rather is nothing but the preterite subjunctive of / will rather; instances of this expression are met with from the latter part of the 13th eentury onward ; it occurs several times in Shakespeare.
I280-'90 South Eng. Leg. 99/264, 'mahum', he seide, '."wat schal ich dor hov schal ich bi-leue allone? 3wi


neltpou raper fette me jianne sofifri alle mine men to leose.
Ibid. i62/ I943-'4, Deth ichullc wel fain take . . . rapur ]>ane heo (= holi churche) spille.
Ibid. 164/2017, rapur ichullc him Jter-to helpe: so muche so ich mai.
•377 Piers PI- B IV 5 (= C V. 5), But resoun rede me [ler-to rather wil I deye.
i379-'83 Chaucer, Troil. & Cris. V 47, Why nil I rather vvith a man or two Stele hir a-vvey ?
1386-? Id. Cant. T. B 225, rather than I lese Custance I wol be cristned.
c. 1450 Compendious Olde Treatyse, p. 175, Also Paul saith in the same Chapter. I will rather fyue wordes to be spoken to the vnderstanding of men then ten thousand yat they vnderstand not, Cf. Auth. Vers. 1 Corinth. XIV 19, I had rather speak five words with my understanding... than...
1481 Caxton, Reynard, p. 18, I wyl rather be the messager my self for to goo and paye hym.
' 553 Roister Doister p. 38, I will rather haue my Cote twentie times swinged, Than on the naughtie wag not to be auenged; cf.
Ascham, Works I, II, p. 333, / had rather it ( = mine old living, compared with acoat) turned than any new provided.
1559 Ascham, Works II, 21, / will rather teil you then how it ( = medicine) did comfort me, than... Id. Ibid. II, 145, take heed of such men, yea, and of me too, if you should understand me to be of that sort that rather will seek yours than you, ani rather will seek by you to bear and face out a ruffling... than &c.
1593 Marlowe, Edward the Sec. V VI 52, / will rather die, Than sue for life, unto a paltry boy. Shakespeare, Merry Wives, II II 3 '6. I will rather trust a Fleming with my butter... then my wife with her selfe.
Id. Merch. of Ven. I III 156, You shall not seale


to such a bond for me, lle rather dweil in my necessitie.
ld, First Part Henry Sixt'h V iv 144, lle rather keepe That which I haue, than courting for more. ld, Jul. Caesar V v 7, lle rather kill my selfe. 50. 1 he following passages show that would rather, far froni being a new departure in Shakespeare's time, could even then boast of having been a recognized idiom for tliree centuries.
1 28o-'qo S. Eng. Leg. 110/134, And. bote he he*e weddi wolde: heo nolde christinedom a-fongue, heo seide heo wolde raper tuyrne a.~en In-to liire owene londe. Ibid. 127/735, Raper he wolde... to martyrdom beon ido, |>ane holi churche were so bi-neo|ie. Ibid. 153/1620. Raper he wolde deth a-fonge Jiane Jiolie heore lu[iere wille.
Ibid. 154/1678, Seint Thomas swor Jiat bi is dai.-,e he nolde J>arof holde non Raper he wolde deth a-fonge.
1369 Chaucer, Book of the Duch. 240-'2, Rather then that 1 shulde deye... 1 wolde yive thilke Morpheus... the alder-beste Yift...
c. 1372 ld. Compl. unto Pite 46, whan I al this company ther fond I bat rather wolden al my cause spil le Than do me help, 1 held my pleynte stille.
1379- 83 ld. Troil. & Cris. III 379, rather deye / wolde and determyne... In wrecchednesse.
1386-? ld. Cant. T. A 487, Ful looth were him to cursen for his tythes, But rather wolde he yeven... Un-to his povre parisshens aboute of his offring.
Id. Ibid. E 1169, thogh the coyne be fair at ye, It wolde rather breste a-two than plye.
1393 Gower, Conf. Am. IV, 2756, I wolde rapur Atropos... mi hadde from mi moder cast.
i400-'50 Two M. E. Hist. from Heil, II, 43, Man yf thou wyste what hyt were, To take another then jiy wife, Thou woldest raper suffer here. (In all 7 MSS.)
1481 Caxton, Reynard, p. 79, / wold alle to gydre avenV u n der Haal', Trausition. 4.


ture for his loue, rather han I shold see hym destroyed.
1544 Ascham, Toxophilus, p. 104, You rather woulde haue a manne go some other way to worke.
1553 Roister Doister p. 39, rather than with such a loutïshe dolte to mariè... [she] woulde lyue a poore lyfe solitarie.
There are eight instances in the first folio of Shakespeare; in live of them would and rather are separated from each other, a^ in the example from Roister Doister; in the otlier three this is not the case.
Meas. for Meas. \ 396, 1 would not rather Make rasli remonstrance of my hidden powre, Then let hira so lx? lost.
Sec. Part Ilenry Sixth III 1 29;, / rather would haue lost my Life betimes, Then bring a burthen of dishonour home.
Rich. 1 hird, III vu 161, I would rather hide me from my Greatnesse... I hen in my Greatnesse couet to be hid; the quartos read l/tad rather.
51. It may be advisable to briefly sum up the facts I have hitherto ascertained. By 1300 two new idioms had sprung up beside the original one me is leef, viz. / have leef_ lever, and I will rafter, so that 'I should prefer' niight be expressed hy
a. me were lever
b. I had lever
c. I wo[u]ld rafter
These three idioms mutually influenced one another, with the exception. however, of a and c, which differed too much to make any interaction 1 ikeiy. a and b had lever in common, and the interrelations between them gave rise to
d. I were lever and e. me had lever.
Similarly b and c had the subject in common, vvhile moreover the adjectives accompanying the verbs, were perfect ly synonymous. 1 his led to the development of two more blendings:
/. / would lever,
and g. 1 had raj,er.


The former of these two is not often met with in texts antenor to 1600; I have noted the following instances:
1393 Gower, Conf. Am. I ;6o8, Thou schalt seie, upon this molde, That alle womman lievest wolde Re soverein of mannes love.
c. 1430 Myr. of oure I.adye 29, They that wolde lener be in the quier.
1528 Rede ine etc p. 42, he wolde lever dye a martyr 1553 Ascham, Works I, n, p. 355, My trust is, you will not judge me unconstant for this university in choice of my living, hut rather one that would lievest live as I find myself fittest to serve my prince and my country.
N^Td'1 , ltei mStanCeS' d°Wn to i898' are quoted in the
/ would as lief, a parel lel to / had as lief, is of later origin • t ie earliest instance 1 know of, occurs in the Coventrv Mvttènes (1450—1500):
the trewth wolde I knowe ,w Ir ff as ye. For later instances see the N. E. D. and also the Dial Dict.
The bl en ding process that resulted in / had rathe, is aptly illustrated by the following passage:
Cov. Mir. PI. p. I20, Rather than. I xuld pleynyn opynly... had l levyr fforsake the coutry ffor evyr - cf Ilickescorner P. 17, Yet had 1 liever see him hanged by
the chin, Rather than that should be brought about; -
see similar inst. on p. 192.
I had rather first appears about the middle of the i5th century, in Reliquia Antiquce I, 72, Vet haid l rether dye For his sake ons agayne (quoted in N. E. D.) In the i6th century it entirely ousted I had lever, while it was in a fair way to supPlant / would rather as well, for while instances of the latter phrase are comparatively rare. examples of / had rather may be collected by dozens from the early iöth century dramas Lord Berner's Froissart, Ascham's Works etc. This circuni' stance no doubt led to the mistaken notion that / would ralher was a corruption of / had rather.
52. Jespersen makes the following remark:" a further step in the gradual forgetfulness of the old idiom (i. e had rather


ture for his loue, rather han I shold see hym destroyed.
1544 Ascham, Toxophilus, p. 104, You rather wonldc - haue a manne go some other way to worke.
1553 Roister Doister p. 39, rather than with such a loutishe dolte to mariè... [she] woulde lyue a poore lyfe solitarie.
There are eight instances in the first folio of Shakespeare; in live of them would. and rather are separated from each other, a^ in the example from Roister Doister; in the other three this is not the case.
Meas. for Meas. V 396, I would not rather Make rash remonstrance of my hidden powre, Then let him so be lost.
Sec. Part Henry Sixth III 1 297, / rather wotdd haue lost my Life betimes, Then bring a burthen of dishonour home.
Rich. Third, III VII 161, 1 would rather hide 111e from my Greatnesse... Then in my Greatnesse couet to be hid; the quartos read lhad rather.
51. It may be advisable to briefly sum up the facts I have hitherto ascertained. By 1300 two new idioms had sprung up beside the original one me is leef, viz. / have leef, lever, and 1 will raper, so that 'I should prefer' might be expressed by
a. me were lever
b. I had lever
c. I wo\it\ld raper
These three idioms mutually influenced one another, with the exception. hovvever, of a and c, which differed too much to make any interaction likely. a and b had lever in common, and the interrelations between them gave rise to
d. I were lever and e. me had lever.
Similarly b and c had the subject in common, while moreover the adjectives accompanying the verbs, were perfectly synonymous. This led to the development of two more blendings:
/. I would lever,
and g. I had raper.


The former of these two is not often met with in texts anterior to 1600; I have noted the following instances:
1393 Gower, Conf. Am. I ;6o8, Thou schalt seie, upon this molde, That alle vvomman lievest wolde Re soverein of mannes love.
c. 1430 Myr. of oure Ladye 29, They that wolde lener be in the quier.
1528 Rede me etc p. 42, he wolde lever dye a martyr 1553 Ascham, Works I, II, p. 355, My trust is, you will not judge me unconstant for this university in choice of my living, but rather one that would lievest live as I find myself fittest to serve my prince and my country.
Several later instances, down to 1898, are quoted in the N. E. D.
/ would as lief, a parellel to I had as lief, is of later origin; the earliest instance I know of, occurs in the Coventry Mysteries (1450—1500):
the trewth wolde I knowe as leff as ye. For later instances see the N. E. D. and also the Dial Dict.
The blending process that resulted in / had rather is aptly illustrated by the follovving passage:
Cov. Mir. PI. p. 120, Rather than. I xuld pleynyn opynly... had I levyr fforsake the coutry ffor evyr; cf. Ilickescorner p. 171 Yet had l liever see him hanged by the chin, Rather than that should be brought about; — see similar inst. on p. 192.
1 had rather fïrst appears about the middle of the 15th century, in Reliquice Antiquce I, 72, Yet haid I rether dye For his sake ons agayne (quoted in N. E. D.) In the ióth century it entirely ousted I had lever, while it was in a fair way to supplant I would rather as well, for while instances of the latter phrase are comparatively rare, examples of / had rather may be collected by dozens from the early ióth century dramas, Lord Rerner's Froissart, Ascham's Works etc. This circumstance no doubt led to the mistaken notion that / would rather was a corruption of I had rather.
52. Jespersen makes the following remark:" a flirther step in the gradual forgetfulness of the old idiom (i. e had rather


"> would rather) is shown by the introduction of should, as in Canon Doyle, Adv. of Sherlock Holmes, I 228 "Or should you rather that I sent James off to bed ?" (Progress, p. 227).
This use of should instead of would in the ist person ('should you?' implies 'Yes, / should or 'No. / should not') is not quite so recent as the above remark might lead us to think. It already dates from the time when it had become a rule to employ 'shall' in the ist pers. and 'will' in the 2nd and the 3rd pers. of the future; the optative sense of 'will', 'would', was lost sight of, and thus the prevailing practice of saying I shall (.should) led to the introduction of 'shall' in the phrase under consideration.
I450-'Ö0 Merlin 20/30, And he ansuerde, / shall rather tel le the for thy love than for thy force.
1481 Caxton, Reynard p. 51, rather than they shold be onborn, I shal rather gyue yow my male that I bere.
1512 Parfre, Candlemas Day 172, we will not leve oon In all this cuntre that shall us escape, / shall rather slee them everychoon.
1440 Gesta Rom. p. 427, as me thinke, thoughe I haue many housbondes, and if they all Called me, I shüld rather at on callyng renne to my makere, then to the voices of hem all; cf. Merlin 33/36, "In feith", quo the oon, "/ sholde suffer grete myschef er he had eny harm".
1598 Ben Jonson, Every Man in his Humour II IV 60, You seem to be gentlemen well affected to martial men, else I should rather die with silence, then live with shame.
The last of these quotations is particularly valuable, as Jonson employs, to use his own words language, such as men do use' (Prologue 21).
53. The development of me is good, better, best is very similar to that of me is leef &c., only there is one great difference: the phrase I had bet ter, which was due tothe a 11 a 1 o g y of / had lever, did not precede the D construction, but arose about the sanie time as the latter.
Instances of the D construction are met with as early as the middle of the 14th century.


Brunne, Handl. Synne, Dulw. AIS. 2837, So were hebetter For to haue broke Jiat yche vowe. c. 1350 Alex. & Dind. 962, We ben beture of our lif &
swich bote finden.
c. 1450 Towneley Mist. XIII 44, 1 were beiter be hangyd. c. 1450 Bev. of Hamt. Manch. MS. 996, Euer more thou shalt be the better.
Ibid. Camb. MS. 1843, Thou were ellys where bettur |>an her, cl Naples MS. Thou were hens better. Ibid. Camb. MS. 3381, hc were bet ter to be at Rome.
1469 Malory, Morte Darthur 228/33, Thou ware better flee by tymes.
In modern English this construction is still vigorously alive; it is constantly met with in iöth century literature; in Shakespeare there are 10 instances of forms of be bet ter and no less than 26 of be best. In Present Eng. it survives in phrases like 'You are better in bed'=it is better for you to be in bed; 'he was better where he was'= is was better for him &c. Me is good does not appear to have adopted the D construction, but he, you were as good... occurs a few times in Shakespeare:
Measure f. Meas. III II, 38 he were as good go a niile on his errand.
Troyl & Cres. II I 111, he were as good cracke a fustie nut with no kernell.
Andronicus IV lil 57, You were as good to shoote against the winde.
The prototype of this is found in:
Thom. of. Ere. 223 L, me were as goodc be hengyd Chaucer, Pari. of. F. 511, him were as good be stille. 54. 1 had better does not occur before the beginning of the 15th century The four oldest instances I know of are:
Torr. of Port. 1 186, Better he had to have be away. Sir Cleges 425, Thou haddest better have gold or fee. Towneley PI. XXIII 105, thou had better laft The tales that thou has told.
Gesta Rom. p. 63, We had better counseill in |iis cas. The blending of me were better and I had beller resulted


in me had beller, a phrase, however, which rarely occurs, and may to some extent have been due to the analogy of me had lever.
Handl. Synne 2837 Bodl. MS., So had h ym beller... For to haue broke ]>at yche vowe.
Bev. of Hamt. 3381, Sutherl. MS., hem had beller be at Rome.
1 he second instance is highly interesting on account of the date of the Sutherland MS., which belongs to the end of the 14H1 century. The occurrence of the blending in this MS. proves indirectly that I had better must have existed in the second half of the 14th century.
55. There is another phrase in M.E. whicli at first sight looks like a blending, viz.me had be better, e. g.
Handl. Synne 2837, Bodl. MS., So had hym be belter... For to haue broke [iat yche vowe.
Bev. of Hamt, 1204, Auchinl. MS., Him hadde be better, he hadde hem slain.
Paston Letters 534, II 250, The Duck had be beller... that it had never be don.
C.axton, Reynard p. 8, Therof hym had be bet ter to haue holde his pees, for he had stolen it.
However, the past part. ben occurs in
R0111. Rose A 1646, Me hadde bet ben elles-wherc.
1 he D construction that developed from me had be beller shows be to have been a past participle; line 3381 of Bev. of Hamt. quoted above, runs in the Naples MS. as follows:
They had ben better at Rome.
Here are three lóth century instances:
1542 Brinklow's Complaynt 20/8, Thei had bene better to have seruyd the kyng for IJ pens a myle.
Ibid. 64/14, Ye had bene better to have suffred death.
1546 Supp. of the Poore Commons 82/34, they had been bet ter to have mylstones hanged about theyr neckes.
I here is one instance in Shakespeare, viz.:
Othello III iii 362, Thou had'sl bin better haue bin borne a Dog I hen answer niy wak'd wrath.


56- As has already been observed, me is good was not transfornied into a D construction; it adopted the C type, which in M. E. and early Mn. E. also became the most usual, and in Present Eng. the only representative of me is best. In the Auth. T ers, there are 9 instances of be good for and one of be good to (Ps. LXXIII 1). The Dutch Statenvertaling generally employs the A construction (also in Ps. LXXIII i).
I do not think the difference that exists at present between be good to and be good for was observed in M. E. (see the instances quoted in S 40, and cf. Mod. E. 'he is good to his wife' with Mod. Du.'hij is goed voor zijne vrouw'.)
That be beller to and be better for were perfectly synonymous in M.E. is proved bij the quotations in § 40 (See especially Gesta Rom. p. 199); the same holds good with regard to be best to and be best for (comp. the passage from La Tour Landry with the one from Merlin).
In the Auth. Version there are 14 instances of be better for, in all of which the phrase is quasi-impersonal, the logical subject being either an inifïnitive or a subject clause. Be better to occurs three times, viz.:
Ruth IV 15, thy daughter in law... which is better to thee than seven sons, hath borne him.
1 Sam. I 8, am I not better to thee than ten sons ? Ps. CXIX 72, The law of thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver.
This idiom is antiquated now in the sense it has in the above three passages; in a modified sense, however, it probably survives in such a sentence as 'he is much better to his second wife than he was to his first'.
57. A few words must be said about I had best and I am (zvas, were) best. The former is qu>ite a modern English phrase; the oldest instance adduced by the N. E. D. dates from 1559; I have not met with an earlier one. The phrase is still in use, not only in literary, but also in spoken English (you had best leave the matter alone). Shakespeare does not employ it, but. on the other hand, there are in his works 2 instances of the second of the above expressions in the present tense, and 25 of the preterite subj. The oldest examples I know of are:
c. 1450 Towneley PI. IX 177, I wold the pray, Thy best


counsel 1 thou wold me say, To do what / am best.
and one from the Cron. Englonde, quoted by the N. E. D.:
1483 He wyste not what he war beste to do.
I will add a few instances from Shakespeare.
Tempest. I II 366, Fetch vs in Fewell, and be quicke thoiïrt best.
Cymb. III 11 79, Madam, yoiire best consider.
Gentl. of Ver. I I 108, If the ground be ouercharg'd, you were best sticke her.
Merry ^T III 111 165, You were best meddle with
buck-washing.
Love's Lab. Lost V II 171, You were best call it a Daughter beamed eyes.
As You Like It I I 154, thou wert best look to 't.
Taming of the Shrew V 1 106, thou werdt best saie that I am not Lucentio.
All's Well II III 267, Thou wert best set fhy lower part where thy nose stands.
Cymb. III vi 19, I were best not call.
Gentl. of Ver. I lil 24, teil me, whether were 1 best to send him?
Richard III, IV IV 337, What were I best to say?
58. The modern English phrase be the better (as, You are [all] the better for the change) does not appear to have developed from an A construction; the is an old instrumental dependent on a comparative. In Alfred's Boethius we find.
27/27, hwi cart ]tu | onne a />>/ betere for his gode.
35/16, |ii ne bid nan man for his anwealde na [ie betere.
As we see the Old Eng. construction agrees exactly with the modern one. The following two passages show that in M. E. the idiom also occurs without the preposition for:
Chaucer, Leg. of Good W. 1363, I may wel lese a word on yow, or letter, Al-be-it that I shal be never the better.
Bev. of Hamt. 996, Manch. MS., Euer more thou shalte be the better.
There is an instance in the Conf. Am., in which of is used instead of for:


1 2424, When thou hast taken eny thing of loves yifte ... W her of thin her te was the betre... Hast thou &c.
3. Me is wel, bet.
59. 1 he development of this expression runs parallel witli that of me is goocl &c, of which it may be considered to be the adverbial form. As regards the comparative it must be remarked, that a good deal of confusion prevails, for bet, although really the comparative of wel, is often used as an adjective instead of better; in the case of me is best it is, of course, utterly impossible to say which is which. Occasionally we fïnd the comparative preceded by }>e (— O.E. py) as.
La.-amon A 30, |>e sceal beon pe bet.
I'rov. of Hend. 160, lj>e bet jtc be, |>e bet ]>e byse', Quo[> Hendyng.
Me is wel developed in two directions and gave rise to a C and aD construction. The latter began to be used in the first half of the I4th century.
1340 Hamp.„Pr. of Cons. 1452, Now er men wel, now er men wa.
J393 Piers PI. C IX 300, Wend now whenne )io\v wolt, and wel be pow euere; cf. Ibid. A VII 264, wel be pe for euere.
c. 1440 Gesta Rom. p. 392, She is right wele and sittes full hye in heuyn blisse.
145o-'6o Merlin 607 16, Merlin... thought in his herte that well were he that with soche a creature myght ly.
In Shakespeare we find the D construction followed by an infinitive :
Merch. of \ en. II 11 55, his Father though I say 't is an honest exceeding poore man, and God be thanked wel to live.
Wint. Tale III lil 125, If the sinnes of your youth are forgiuen you, you 're wel to liue.
In Present English this idiom has been ousted by it is well for... (you to live).
There is an instance of the D construction of pe bet ben in the Conf. Am.


V 47I5. after that thou wel deservest Of yifte, thou rniht be the bet.
60. A C construction was already used side by side with the original 011e in early M E.
1205 La-,amon A 37, and again 870, Hit is\>e bet mid us.
1280-90 S. Eng. Leg. 216 543 ho-so ani freond on eor{ie liath: mid hint J>e betere is. (betere instead of bet, owing to confusion).
In late M. E. bet was discarded in favour of better, so that bet ben was merged into bet ter ben (cf. § 53). When; however, bet ben is followed by with — which in M. E. superseded mid1) — we must look upon it as the continuation of the O.E. adverbial phrase, thus O.E. me is bet~y> Early M.E. hit is [fc] bet mid me > Mod. E. it is better with me. An instance of this phrase is found in the Auth. Version.
Hosea II, 7, then it was bet ter with me than now.
That this view is correct, is proved by the existence of the phrase be well with, which occurs no less than 28 times in the Auth. Vers., e. g.
Gen. XL 14, think on me when it shall be well with thee.
2 Kings IV7 26, Is it well with thee ? is it well with thy husband ? is it well with the child ?
Both be well with and be better with are antiquated now, at any rate in every-day English.
Another C construction survives in 'it is well for the country that the corps did not fail' (Webster). 1 have not succeeded in hunting up early instances of this idiom. 3)
As to the A construction, it continued to be employed till after 1500, particularly by Scotch writers (Ilenrysone, Fables 082; Dunbar, King Hart 371 ; Lindesay, Satyre 480).
4. Me is wo.
61. The sense conveyed by this phrase is occasionally expressed by wo habben, as,
1) See E. Hittic, Xur Gexrhiehtc tier (ilt-ewjliwhen l'i'dpusitiimen miil mul wij); Anglistische Forscliungen, ed by Hoops, Hel't 2.
2) In Chdueer, Leg. 0/ G. II'. 27<M>, 'yit is it heI for ine For to be
deed in wyfly honestee', liet evidently stands for heller.


Sawles Warde (O.E. Hom.) 253, wa is me, and wa beo [ie ... and wa ha habbeit, ne of al j>at eauer wa is, 11e schal ham neauer wontin.
King Horn, Camb. MS. 279, In heorte heo had.de wo.
Cursor Mundi, C interpol, p. 959/125, IIow mijt hc haf more woo?
Destr. of Troy 1288, Myche woo kade pc wegh. I doubt, however, whether this phrase influenced the transition process to any appreciable extent. If it had been of frequent occurence, it would probably have had the sarae effect upon me is wo as I have leef had on me is leef, but as a matter of fact, wo habben is not of ten met with. Be this as it may, it is certain that the D construction l am wo was already in use in the first half of the 14th century, and kept its ground till Shakespeare's time. The following quotations show that examples of type D are by no means rare.
c. 1320 Cursor Mundi 8631 G, pu wicked, ay be pu wa\Y similar; C & T have the A constr.
Ibid. 1323, T he was ful wo; C, F & G have the A constr.
Ibid. 13038 G, on o])er side was scho ful wa; F & T similar; C has the A constr.
Ibid. 22105 C, Corozaim ai be ye wa; the other texts have the A constr.
Ibid. 22105 (-• And capharnaum, ai wa ye be; the other texts have the A constr.
c. 1340 Pr. of Consc. 1452, Now er men wele, now er men wa.
1369 Chaucer, Book of the Duch. 1192, In this debat I was so wo, Me thoghte myn herte braste a-tweyn.
1375 Bruce I 348, Then was he wa and will of red.
Ibid. III 410, Than war thai wa on gret maner. Ibid. IX 724, Thai... war of thair taking voundir wa.
Ibid. XIII, 478, He wes so wa and will of rede. Ibid. XV 3, Thai war al wa.
1350-1400 Emare 324, For water she was woo.
Ibid. 555, In herte he was woo.
Ibid. 882, In herte he was full woo.


14—- Torr. of Port. 1691, This Giaunt him toke, wo he be.
Ibid. 2017, Byrdus and bestis, aye woo ye be. c. 1440 Generydes 915, he toke his leue, wherewith he was full woo.
Ibid. 2371, Too se hym in that plight they wcrc full woo.
Ibid. 2578, Thanne was a noyse the Citee all along that they were slayn, and woo thei were therfore. Ibid. 3484, Of his fayling ther he was full woo. Ibid. 6652, So woo thei were thei wist not what to do.
I425~'50 Two Hist. fr. Heil I 49, Ashm. MS. wo be pet, who-so euer they be.
Seven Pen. Ps. 554, Ashm. MS. Bowe doun Jiin cere, when I am whoo.
c. 1450 Bev. of Hamt. MSS. C and M (MS. Auch. has the A constr. throughout) — 297 C wo he was.
Ibid. 541 M, Whan Iosyan it herd, she was full wao.
Ibid. 2002 M, For Arundel I am ful wo.
Ibid. 2349 M, therfore he was ful wo.
Ibid. 2911 M, He was so wo & so wode. 1481 Caxton, Reynard p. 44. he was so woo, he wist not what to doo.
c. 1489 Robyn Hood 1183, And wo be thou, thou proud sheri ff.
I am unable to say when this idiom got into disuse; so niuch is certain, that up to about 1600 it was not obsolete, since both Spenser and Shakespeare employ it.
Faerie Queene IV I 38, He was full wo, and gan his former griefe renew.
Tempest V 139, / am woe for 't, Sir.
Ant. & Cl. IV XII 133, Woe, woe are we sir. 62. At present the A construction belongs rather to the literary than to the spoken language and is only used in connection with me, as; Dickens, Christm. Car. (Tauchn.) p. 27, "It is doonied to wander through the world — oh, woe is me! — And witness what it cannot share". This seems already to


have been the case three centuries ago; in the Auth. Vers. there are y instances of woe is me, while there is one in the A-pocrypha; othervvise we find the C construction, as:
Jer. XXIII i, Woe be nnto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture.
Ezek. XXXIV 2, Woe be to the shepherds of Israël that do feed themselves!
Eccl. (Apocr.) II 12, Woe be to the fearful hearts, and faint hands.
Ibid. XLI 8, Woe be to you ungodly who have forsaken law.
It is noteworthy that the verb be is generally omitted.
In Present Engüsh the L construction is still used in the spoken language, although perhaps oftener in fun than in earnest, —'Woe be to you if you dare to touch it'; 'Woe be to him if he Iets it out'.
5. Rewen.
63- At first sight the M. E. representative of O. E. hteowan is a most puzzling verb.
Hreowan is essentially a type A verb, while rewen enters into a variety of constructions and has several significations. In the poems from the Harl. MS. 2253 there are instances of three different constructions (see the glossary) which may be represented as follows.
a. it reenvep me (A constr., as in O. E.);
b. ich reowe hit (D construction);
c. reowe /ton [o«] me (Imperative).
It seems to me that in attempting to account for the syntactical history of this verb we must start from the last of these three constructions. In the Imperative we should expect ]ee, not jtou; pee rewe must actually have existed, and is, indeed, met with in the Auchinleck MS„ 15—20 years later than Harl. 2253, v'z :
Bev. of Hamt. 3658, i praie, on me J>e rewe,
which means 'cause it thee sorrow, be thou sorry for me, have thou pity on me'. The preposition on, which had many meanings in M. E„ signifies here'with respect to, concerning;' as in so many other cases it is interchangenble with of.


'On me pe rewe' must have been unique, for already in O. E. it was very usual to intensify invocations by pu — never by j.e. The following instances have been taken from Godcunde Lar & Peowdom:
p. 138, Ne leedpu us to wite in wean sorge. p. 154,wordpu min onfoh, wuldres Ealdor.
p. 158, JVc'S pu gemyndig miltsa j)inra.
p. 165, Ne awyrp pu me, wuldres Ealdor; rece pu heo swylce, }>a3t hi on worulde wynnum lifigen.
p. 178, f)u min gebed, maere Drihten, gehyr.
p. 125, Ne forweorn pu me, wuldres Drihten.
Nothing was therefore more natural than that pe should be replaced by pu, poli, and thus i-eive ]>ou on me became a very usual form of invoking compassion, mercy etc., as the following passages representing all three dialects, will show. Northern dialect.
Cursor Mundi 141 /3 C, Lauerd, of hitn pon reu; the other MSS. have on him.
Ibid. 24564 C, For drighten luue, yee reu o me; other MSS. similar.
Ibid. 24571 C, Yee reu o me, for-J i; other MSS. sim. Ibid. 245643, only in G, Leuedi, for |>at suete ioy, pit reu on me.
Thomas of Ere. 87, Camb. MS., lovely lady! pon re-a' on me.
Midi. dialect.
Ass. of Oure Lady 526, Camb. MS., now. y the pray, on me pon rewe.
Wright's Chaste Wife 186, Good dame, on me pon rewe!
Southern dialect.
Poems Harl. MS. 2253 172/13, weylawei 1 whi seist Jiou so ? pon reive on me, ]iy man.
Ibid. 204/165, Iesu, jtin ore! Jtou rewe of me.
Ibid. 206/19, nioder, pou rewe al of pi bern. 64. Occasionally pou is omitted; such instances show that rewe had begun to be taken for an ordinary Imperative.
Thom. of Ere. 87, Thornton MS., lufly ladye! rewe on mee.


Henrysone, Rohyn and Mak. (Percy) 4, O Robyn, rew on me.
Bonaventura's Medit. 473. Penke man, now & rewe on hire syghyng.
Chaucer, Cant. T. F 947, Madame, reweth upon my peynes smerte.
Id. Troil. & Cris. IV 1176, O lord... Rewe eek on me! Poems Harl. MS. 2253 207/43, moder, rewe of motler care.
65. The D construction of rewen had established itself in English as early as the beginning of the 14th century.
c. 1310 Poems Harl. MS. 2253 231/13, [at we han ydon.
yrede we reowen sore.
c. 1320 Cursor Mundi 9618 F, how shuldist Jtou rew on hym ought; T and Bedf. simil.; C & G have the A constr.
Ibid. 15695 G, Of [taitn redeles he reud sare; T simil.; C & F have the A constr.
Ibid. 18419 C, I praid o me he suld reu; all the other MSS. similar.
c. 1340 Hampole, Works I p. 61, When wil/iou rew, 011 me?
Ibid. I p. 147, I die for hunger, bot pou on me ren. c. 1386 Cant. T A 3362, I preye yow that ye wol rewe on me.
1393 Conf. Am. Prol. 1004, He may that werre sore rewe.
Ibid. III 1610, ye rewe upon my tale.
Ibid. V 5760, Of myn astat, ye wolde rewe. J400-'50 Beves of Hamt. 178. Manch. MS., If thou hyr haue,
thou shalt it rewe.
c. 1420 Iloccleve, Minor Poems II 136, Thow o gillist reewe on it.
Ibid. II 467. Come on, whan yow list, yee shul reewe it deere.
Ibid. XXIII 490, thou shalt it nat reewe ne forthynke.
Ibid. XXIV 652, he thoghte, reewe shee sliolde.
66. The A construction kept its ground till about the end of the 15th century.


Late instances are found in Wright's Chaste Wife 555; Blanchardyn 156/10; Robyn Hood 883 & 1031 \ Battle of Otterb. (Percy) 44.
6. Longen.
67* As this verb originally governed an accusative, a C construction could, of conrse, not develop from ït. Moreover, it does not appear to have been subject to any special influences, so that its syntactical history can be stated in a few words.
The earnest of the approaching change is found in a Southern production, viz. in the Passion of our Lord, from Jesus MS., date bet ween 1244 and 1250. (O. E. Misc.):
He wes swyjie of-longed to his fader blysse (line 14).
The first real D constructions are:
c. 1320 Cursor Mundi 10548 C, |ian sal l»ou find |tin husband Jiar, |>at jtou has langed efter sare; the other MSS. similar.
Ibid. 20306, He wil noght lang {>at i be her, the other MSS. similar.
My next instance is one from a South Midland production:
1300-'50 Gastel off Loue 1340, Jtorw his Godhede his soule eoade }>idere for liise jiat hedden neode Jtat ."ore hadden hem a-bide And sore tangeden to gon him mide.
Before the end of the 14H1 century the D construction had become quite usual.
1369 Chaucer, Rook of the Duch. 83, She longed so af ter the king That certes, hit were a pitous thing To tel le.
1385- 6 Leg. of G. W. 2260, On a day she gan so sore
Ion ge To seen her suster.
1386-? Cant. T. A 12, Than longen folk to goon on pi 1 grimages.
1393 Gower, Conf. Am. II 1424, He ne longeth al so sore, To wite what him schal betide.
Ibid. II 2393, I ne wolde longe er this Of other mannes love.
1435 Fire of Love 26/22, in hym-self hc longis & nerhand he faylis for swetnes.


Ibid. 26/24. schew to my lemman 1> / for lufe longe. The same phrase occurs 40/25 and 50/14; cf. Hampole, Works I, p. 59. Camb- MS ' for hyS me langes ay. ,
An interesting bleuding: Ibid. 88/5. / for lufe
Ion ges to dye. ,
i45o-'6o Merlin 74/29. ther was neuer man that ong
so sore after. . ^ , •
,462-'8S Henrysone, Fables 178. Scho... langit for to hei
of hir weilfair.
68. The A construction keeps cropping up Uil the end the M. E. period. I have noted instances in Merlin (233 17 an 314 6) and in Robyn Hood (1762).
7. Lo{> ben, lof>en.
6q As the verb and the adjectival phrase mean very mUch the same, and as in their syntactical h.story they agree too the best plan will be to treat them together.
It would be difficult to find a better illustration than that nfforded bv this verb and this phrase of how strong the tendicy,n„s< have been to do «»ay with typ. A construct,„n,
izr»,» m<, >" "M' "y''ui" mer
fron' a st, tly logual poiit of «ie»', noth.ng more or less I I.h. speaker applying to h.ms.lf the abusive ep.thets on.inaÜv intended for some other party. Of course the s.gn.6cation of lob ben and lejyen changed during the transition, Sey cal to mean be inwiUing' and 'fee, a» aversion to re-
'"ScatioM frequently arise to express di.like -^ ,he onnosite - and so it is easy to account for the fact tn /„/, L and Iepen - as well asU.tm - soon began to the effect of the causes set forth in Chapter III.
The transition already began before the inflectional endings
h»d ""'T-
The sense of this line is unmistakable, as in the prece Hne we read. 's^ehte and sibbe he luuede\
5
V an der Gaaf, Transition.


The adjective, too, figures in a D construction anterior to 1250, viz. in
Gen. & Exod. 3982, \or- fore am ic wi& \e &us lo<t. Dr. Morris thinks this line corrupt, and suggests wroiï; but right or wrong from an editor's point of view, the fact remains that we have here an instance of a construction that was to become very general within less than a century.
The earliest instance I have found in the Northern dialect is c. 1320 Cursor Mundi 9240 C, abyuth [elyachym... Azor...
sadoch] that lath er for to lig in rim; F and G similar; T different.
I must own this example is open to the objection that lath er may not have developed from lath es; it is just possible that lath er means simply 'are ugly', 'are unfit', although I do not think so, especially because I have never come across a similar instance of lop ben used in this way.
70. In the following quotations, dating from before 1400, all three dialects are represented.
1303 Brunne, Handl. Synne 3017, 5if j)y prout wurdys make hym wroth Be pou neuer so lefe ne loth. beg. I4th cent. Bonaventura's Med. 299, Lope pon not hys sorowes to se; cf. 300: ]>e which hym loped not to suffre for l>e.
Ibid. 597, Thos howndes zvere lothe hys de]> for to tarye.
1320 Shoream, I'oems I 1065, l»e bydde ich, brojier, be nau~,t loft To do penaunce here.
c. 1350 Alex. & Dind. 272, al lu|iur bi-leue we lopen in herte.
Ibid. 373, IVe libben in loue & lopen enuie.
1362 Piers PI. A Prol. 52, Grete lobres & longe ]tat lop weore to swynke = B Prol. 55.
c. 1375 St. Machor (Ae. Leg. Neue F.; Aberdeen dial.) 1606, sa |l»ai] partyt, Jiocht pat war lath.
1393 Gower, Conf. Am. V 4650, Suche brocage as wyves lothe.
Ibid. V 5606, The fader and the tnoder bothe To leve here douhter weren lothe.
71. ïn the fifteenth century the new construction gradual-


ly superseded the old one, although the latter is still found in Morte Darthnr and in Caxton's works.
In order to show the great prevalence of the D construction after 1400, I will give a number of instances dating from the first half of the 15th century.
Hoccleve, Reg. of Pr. 2348, he... to stint loth is.
Ibid. 4526, to doo so, pon woldest be ful loth.
Id. Minor P. III 318, But on the mom was wight of 110 degree So loth as / to twynne fro my coutche.
Ibid. III 426, I am ther-to ful loth.
Ibid. XXIV 378, to han sete on it (= the clooth) had she been looth.
St. Editha 2328, to leue hurre preyerus he was fulle lothe.
Lydgate, Reson & Sens. 2254, 1 am lothe toffende To yowe or hir.
Ibid. 5723, to departe... / was in herte wonder loth.
Id. Ass. of Gods 943, Long out of the felde lothe he was to abyde.
Ibid. 2092, the wey thedyrward to hold be we lothe.
La Tour Landry 155/12, She wolde haue lothed her.
Myr. of oure Ladye 222/8, She lothed and set at noughte all worldely rychesse and worship.
Generydes 2527, he was full loth so for to do.
Ibid. 3768, Not withstonding he will be loth ther too.
Ibid. 6344, Whanne it was day, though thei were netter so loth To Mounperson rideth Generides.
Ibid. 6744, Full lothe thei were to teil the certente.
Instr. for Par. Pr. 215, As dedly synne they schillen hyt lope.
Ibid. 1485, For to lene hast potv be loth?
72. The following passage is interesting; the word lothe is used in its original meaning, although the sentence looks as if it was an instance of the D type.
Bev. of Hamt. 2203, Manch. MS., Late hem come to me both, Or ellys, forsothe, l wol be lothe.
The second part of this sentence means; 'or else I shall be nasty, disagreeable; or else they 11 have a 1 ively time of it. or else I'll pay them out'.


The expression it is loth to me, although found occasionally (see § 40), never really became usual.
The verb to loathe is still employed all over England; in Punch Oct. 22, 1902, p. 273 a Cockney says, 'I loathes yerscorcher's noisy gibes'. To be loth does not seem very usual in the South, bu.t in the Midlands and the North one may often hear it.
8. Liken
73. The middle of the 14th century may be taken as the turning point in the history of liken. The earliest instances of the D construction occur in the Gestes of Alisaunder and in 1 Yilliam of Palerne, viz.
c. 1340 Gest. of Alis. 873, Of *) this mirie meting wel may ])ou lyke.
c. 1350 Will. of Pal. 1009, sche sertes bi hire side Jie same him graunted, to worche wij) hire al his wille, as he wel liked.
Ibid 5 528, 3e j>at liken in love swiche Jiinges to here. preijes for Jiat gode lord Jiat gart Jiis do make.
There is also a 'blending' of the two constructions in
Will. of Pal. 1740. Sei me loueli lemman, how lik es pe me novvjie.
There is a similar blending in Chaucer;
Cant. T. E 106, For certes, loid, so wel us lyketh yow... that...
Chaucer appears to have been very conservative with regard to liken; I have not met with a single instance of the new construction in his works, and the above passage is the only one that may be interpreted as showing that Chaucer was acquainted with the D construction of liken.
During the half century following the fïrst appearance of the type D construction, instances are still far from plentifulI will give the few I have found.
1362 Piers PI. A Prol. 69, pe leivede men likede him wel and leeuejt his speeche.
1393 Gower, Conf. Am. VIII 378, he... ivas likende of his hote blod (= VIII 2476).
*) This of after like beeame quite usual at a later periud; tliere are ten instances ol' it in Shakesjieare.


c. 1400 Destr. of Troy 402, Of negramansi [she had] ynogh to note when she liket.
Ibid. 5288, wirke with that worthy, as ye wele likes.
Ibid. 6262, I haue messangers with me... Bodvvord for to bring, as we best lykys.
Ibid. 7894, Pai Priani shuld pray for this prise lady, To be sent to his Sir, if he so lyked. 74. Between 1400 and 1450 the D construction made great progress:
c. 1420 Lydgate, London Lyckpenny 5, they lyked it well.
Ibid. 1332, By and by he told her euery del the which in soth she liked neuere a del.
(The two constructions are probably blended in /Ijs. of Gods 574, reule me as ye lyketh best; Lydgate may, however, have used the Southern 2nd pers. pl. Or has a Southern scribe tampered with the original lyke\n\?)
c. 1420 Pall. on Husb. X 55, thaire landes liketh thai to enoynte.
In the same work there is a striking blending: XI 15, Nowe lynneseede, if the lykest may be sowne.
1435 Fire of Love 52/32, Qwhils he truly in fleschlv desirs begyns to lyke; in to how greet a pytt of wrechidnes he cast hymself he seis not.
Lyke evidently means here 'delight', a signifïcation which can also be instanced from the Surtees Psalter:
CIII (CIV) 34, ƒ sothlik in Lauerd like sal. #) c. 1440 Flor. & Blanchefl. Trenth. MS. 527, l>ou lijkkist no")t }>in yn ; cf. Cambr. MS. (2nd half 13th cent.) 171, pe ne likcp nojt Jiin in.
c. 1440 Generydes 661, he lekid hym (hym acc.; shown by context).
Ibid. 4267, She likyd not that riall ordenaunce. c. 1440 Gesta Rom. p. 281, come heder, and here me, and [>ou shalt like it for euer.
*) This is probably the verv earliest instance of a I) Construction of this verb; date c. 1300.


c 145°- 1 hom of Ere. Canibr. MS. (dial. southernized) 125, pou likis ]>i play.
75. The new construction had a very hard battle to fight with the old one. Not only that the latter survived the M. E. period, it kept its ground, in literary English at any rate, for centuries longer. Shakespeare abounds with instances; there are three in the Authorized Version, and Milton employs it frequently. The N. E. D. addyces quotations from quite recent productions, to which I will add the following one taken from Walter Besant's
Lady of Lyrtti: He remained for a moment, looking after his matter doubtfully. The order liked liim not.
As regards the spoken language, me &c likes is now decidedly dialectical; in the North it survives among the country people; I have heard it used in Yorkshire.Further information on this subject is supplied by the Dialect Diclionary.
9. Listfen] *)
76. No one that has read a fair amount of Middle English can have failed to notice that, generally speaking, a decided preference is shown to listen over lik en, although they appear to be synonymous. We shall accordingly hnd that the former verb sooner began to show signs of 'wear and tear' than the latter, in fact quite half a century earlier. In all dialects listen had begun to alter its ways by the beginning of the 14th century.
i280-'90 South. dial. S. Eng. Leg. 382/194, J>o manden huy Ioye and blisse i-nou,~: jtat lusten er betere grone.
c. 1300 Northern dial. Surtees Ps. L. 17. Sothlik til offrandes lustes pon noghte.
1303 Midi. dial. Handl. Synne 6444, ]>e, to sauë,/w« ne lyst.
That these three instances are by no means of a sporadic
1) Ite the frequent absence of intlexion in the 3«l. pers. sing.-pres see Sievers, Ag». Gramm. § 359, 3. The rule given there liolds good with regard to Midi. and Soutli. M.E. ns well. The Northern dialect, preserved list as an heirboom.


character, we may infer from the following ones, dating from the first half of the 14th century.
c. 1330 Bonaventura's Medit. 352, Jiy wil be ydo, ry^t as pon lest.
c. 1340 Gestes of Alis, 1105. yee casten so large, That yee
wem no wight but wyrch as yee lyst.
c. 135° Alex. & Dind. 355. Whan ive ludus in ]»is land liste to drinke We turnen tid to flod.
Ibid. 539. -"e eten euere whan -c list. c 1350 Seven Pen. Psalms 669, Rijt as [ton liste, [>ou may men lede.
77. Let us now turn to Chaucer and Gower. Einenkel (Streifsiige p. 115) gives only two instances of the D construction, one of which, according to Jespersen (§ 178, note 2) proves nothing, while of the other 'For he to vertu listneth not entende' (F 689) he says, "I understand it no more than did those scribes who placed listeth instead of listneth". Skeat prints listeth, and in the glossary explains entende by dispose oneself', which, indeed, makes good sense.
I have not the slightest doubt that Chaucer employed the D construction of listen; my opinion is founded on the following passages:
Troil. & Cris. III 1810, Ye sustren nyne eek, that by Elicone In liill Parnass listen for to abyde... I can no more.
Ibid. IV 1547, Now trowe 111e if thoiv leste!
Leg. of G. W. B 575, Suffyceth 111e... That thou reherce of al hir lyf the grete After thise olde auctours listen to trete.
Cant. T. B. 2234, For soothly he that precheth 1c hem that listen nat heren his wordes, his sermon hem .niuyeth.
The first sentence of the last paragraph of the Astrolabe (which §, however, according to Skeat, is perhaps not genuine) contains a good instance:
First wite thou certeinly, how that haven stonderth, that thou list to werke for.
Before passing on to Gower, I will quote one more passage from Chaucer, which, though, strictly speaking, it ought to have been inserted among the examples in § 38, gives no uncertain sound, viz.:


Troil. & Cris. I 707, they han misaventure, And listen nought to seche hem other cure.
The new construction must have been quite familiar to Gower, too, for he employs it several times:
Conf. Am. III I, If thon the vices lest to knowe.
lbid. III in, She leste noght to loke.
Ibid. IV 3147, The woviman listen pleie.
Ibid. VII 4400, thei lest wenden, more sodeinly than doth the thunder.
78. An examination of 1 he Destrnction of Troy shows that by the end of the I4th century the D construction had also gained a firm footing in the Northern dialect. In this long-winded production list does not occur very often; stiil 1 have noted the following instances of the new construction.
2339, I shall telle you the trewthe hou me tyde euyn, And all the case how yt come know yf ye lyste.
2611, if ye list it be lefte let me wete sone.
4364, and again 4461, dem as ye list.
4644, my counsell is kyndly, kythe if ye list., cf. 4609 Kithe if you list.
5287, Take hym here tyt, & tent as ye list.
79. In the first half of the 15U1 century the new construction became extremely frequent; Lydgate's works, for instance are simply teeming with instances, as,
Temple of Glass 439'.>t' Hst to saue him.
Ibid. 447, And sijte je list... I shal... make him teschuwe evere synne & vice; je list further occurs Ibid. 470, 983, 1023.
Itlid. 1086, she list to appese — 924, he lust.
Reson & Sens. 607, Yf thou lyst wyrken as the sage, Begvnne anonne thy viage; thou lyst also in 3481, 4135 4155, 4228, 4641, 4684. 5063.
Ibid. 637, she ne lyst no lenger duelle; she lyst also in 875.
Ibid. 2046, He lyst no lenger take avys.
Ibid. 4568,ye wer to blame, That ye lyst declare hir name; ye lyst also in 5337, 5793, 5796. 5819. 6015, 6039, 6315. 6437.
Ibid. 6413, they lyst nat to aduerte.


Assembly of Gods 1007, hc lyst; 1291 & 1287, ye lyst;
1766. 2031 &C„ tliow lyst; I lyst in London Lyckpenny
Str. 12.
lt is highly remarkable that Lydgate's contemporary Hoccleve never employs the D construction once in the works I have examined (Keg. of Pr.; Minor Poems vols. I and II) He scrupulously adheres to the good. old, time-honoured construction. Probably he considered I lyst to be fit only lor people that "loven of' propre kinde newfangelnesse", but out of place in his poetry, which, as no reader can fail to observe, is couched in a language generally refined and ofteii even tinged with mannerism and pedantry. Lydgate, on the other hand. wrote as be spoke and as he heard others speak, "his poetic incapacity compelled him to fall back upon the curi-ent speech", as Triggs remarks in a note on p. 94 of his edition of the Assembly of Gods. If we want to know the everyday language of the middle classes during the first half of het fifteenth century, we ought to study Lydgate in the first place.
But let us return to list. Al most every production from the first half of the 15th century, if list is used in ït at all, affords instances of the new construction. In the following texts 1 have noted 18 instances of the A constr. and 17 of the D constr.: St. Editha, Pall. on Husb., Libell of Engl. Pol., Generydes, La Tour Landry, Osbern Bokemrris Leg., and Torr.
of Port. .
From this it appears that we cannot be far out, ït we say that during the period indicated the two constructions were equally usual. Af ter the middle of the 15Ü1 century the A construction got more and into the background.
In ióth century works the old construction only occurs sporadically; there are two examples in Hickescorner (Dodsley I, p. 154 and p. 157), one in Skelton's Why comc yc nol to Court (1 425), one in John Bale's Thee Lawes (1. 1264), several in Wiafs poems (5^. II, 15; Sat. III, 65; Renounctng of Loue 14 &c.) and one in Steele Glas (p. 63). In Shakespeare list is never found with an accusative (A const.)
In Present English the word only lives in the dialects spoken in the North; as a fossil it sometimes makes -s appearance in poetry, as,


Morris, Defence of Guenevere (Tauchn.) p. 48, What hinders me from taking you. And doing what 1 list to do?
Id. Sigurd the Volsung, p. 221, die in the toils if ihou listest.
W. Besant employs it in prose:
All Sorts and Conditions of Men, Ch. XIX, Harry took his violin and discoursed sweet music, to which they listened or not as they lisled.
Sir Walter Scott construes it with an accusative in
When, in Salamanca's cave, Him lisled his magie wand to wave, The bells would ring in Notre Dame (Lay of the Last Minstrel II Xlll).
80. It remains to say a few vvords about lust. This is the Southern form of our verb, although, strange to say, it occurs in the Sur te es Psalter (L 17). Chaucer, whose readiness to use forms from other dialects than his own, when they suit his purpose, is well-known, uses not only lust, but alsothe Kentish form lest. In fact, we may safely say, that after Chaucer's time lust formed part and parcel of Standard English, and certainly down to the middle of the lóth century lust and list were used indiscriminately. In the following quotations lust has not the opprobrious sense it appears to have obtained about 1600.
1421 Hoccleve, Minor P. XIX 27, her lady lust to show hem grace.
1436 Lib. of Eng. Pol. 683, look who so lust to know. Ibid. 774, I will declaren, whoso lust to loke. c. 1440 La Tour Landry 10/23, yef ye ^ust to accustome
you hereto, yo may wel endure these fastes. c. 1440 Gesta Rom. p. 104, in the hote somer, when alle men lust Reste, he laboured swyftly abovte.
1481 Caxton, Reynard the Fox p. 96. who so shold luste to do that game... cf. p. 16, hym lusted no lenger to smyte the bere.
1538 John Bale, Three Lawes 1264, Ambycyon... may do what him lust.
Id. God's Promises, Marr. Mir. PI. p. 229, No respect hath he to my worde nor monycyon But doth what hym lust.


1545 Lam. of a Christian 116/11. Wayes there are ynoughe, who so lusteth to studye them.
1546 Suppl. of the Poore Commons 78/10, one of yourHighnes chapplene... vsed, when he lusted to ride a brode for hys repast, to cary vvyth hym a scrowle.
1553 Roister Doister p. 12. exalt hym, and haue hym as ye lust.
Ibid. p. 44 I lust not medle with dawes.
Ibid, p. 51, & again p. 57, Do and say what ye lust
lbid. p. haue his anger who lust.
Ibid. p. 87, A good husbande... What euer she
lust to doe, or to say, Must let hir haue hir
owne will.
1570 Ascham, Scholemaster, Works III, p. 82, We talked of their too much liberty to live as they lust.
1576 Steele Glas p. 67, who lust. by warres to gather lawful welth... must cast aside, al conimon trades of warre.
The Cent. Dict. gives a still later quotation, one from Hak-
luyt's Voyages (1589).
The bad sense the verb lust has in the Aut/i. 1 ersiott, and also in Shakespeare is no doubt owing to the influence of the noun lust.
10. Meten and dreinen.
81. Both these verbs began to adopt the D construction about 1300, at any rate in the N. and Midi. dialects.
In the Cursor Mundi we find:
17739 C, For |iis meteing [iat t of mett I did l»e for to fet.
In Brunne's Handl. Synne the following instances occur.
384, Ofte mayst Jiou fynde hyt ryght l>at [>ou hast
mete vpon l>e nyght.
389"'90, Stitn men dremen for surfeture ... surn dreme
' on veyn l>yng.
475, Pou mayst dreme of sum euyl l»yng.
Adam Davy, writing in the London dialect, about 1320> uses ich mette and mc niette indiscriminately:
3, Ich today shewe myne sweuene jiat ich mette in
one ni5th;


7, Me mette }>at he was armed wel;
35, fforsojie me mette Jiis ilk suenene.
52, Ich mette of hym anojiere fair metyng.
Some more rather early instances of the D constr. of meten are found in the Gestes of Alys. and Will. of Pal.
G. of A. 726, Hue mett on [>e midnight of mirth full riue.
Ibid. 735, I l>at svveven so sweete swiftly mette. W. of P. 2869, a selcojte sweuen sone in hire bed sc/ie mette.
82. Chaucer generally employs dremen in the new construction, in the case of meten he shows no preference for either the old or the new one. — Gower is more advanced; as far as I know, he never construes either verb with an objective. Here are a few instances:
Boeth. III, Pr. III 2, ye men... dremen alwey youre beginninge, al-though it be with a thinne imaginacioun.
Troil. & Cr. V 377, Men dreme, and... Th' effect beby the mone.
Ibid. V 1282, thon dreme st of this boor.
House of F. 84, alle that they dreme to-yere.
Ibid. 98, dreme he barfoot, dreme he shod.
Cant. T. B 4282, Men dreme al-day of owles or of apes.
Ibid. B 4284, Men dreme of thing that never was ne shal.
Ibid. B 4333, She dremed on the same night beforn. With obj. Rom Rose 51.
Book of the Duch 286, That he mette, king Scipioun. Pari. of F. 95, in my slepe I mette.
Troil. & Cr. IV 1396, That right in hevene his sowle is, ■ shal he mete!
Cant T. B 4329, Mette he nat that he sat upon a tree? Ibid. B 4445, he had met the dreem, That I yow tolde. With obj. Book of the Duch. 276, 293, 1320; House of F. 119; Rom. Rose 26; Cant. T. B 4268.
Conf. Am. III 51, al wakende I dreeme and meete. Ibid. IV 2721, Of his Slouthe he dremeth ofte.
Ibid. IV 2735, he mai dreme a lusti swevene.


Ibid. IV 2894, that I drcmc is noght of schep.
Ibid. IV 2901, otherwise I dreme and mete that...
Ibid. IV 2910, I melte in such a wise.
Ibfd. IV 3697, what swevene schalt thou mete?
Ibid. VI 1730, his thoght he sette Upon the swevene
which he mette.
Ibid. VII 3704, Ared mi swevene ariht, which I mette.
83. It will be unnecessary to quote any more instances from later productions — they would only prove that since 1400 the A construction of dreinen and meten has been practically absolete.
The two verbs are quite synonymous. and are used indiscriminately; lines 101—105 of Chaucers Pari. of F. are interesting; in 101 & 102 we have dreinen and in 104 & 105 meten. It stands to reason that one of them was bound nltimately to become obsolete. Drenten had the best chance of surviving, because of the nouns dreme and dremer; the noun metyng, although occasionally met with (Curs. M. 199391 Ad. Davy 52; Book of the Duch. 282), never seems to have been very usual. In the Southern dialect meien appears to have been the more usual word ; there are at least six instances (all type D) in St. Editha.
11. Pinken.
84. It is impossible to treat M.E. pinken < O.E. pyncan apart from peuken <[ O.E. petican, because these veibs strongly influenccd each other, both phonetically and syntactically.
Sweet sums up the history of the Mod. E. verb think, which is the outcome of the blending of the above two
verbs as follows :
■I11 O. E. there were two weak verbs of allied form and meaning: pencan, pohte 'think ; pyncan, puhte 'seem', which was impersonal, me pincp 'it seems to me' having much the same meaning as ic pence. In M.E. pencan became regularly penchen in South-Thames English, pcnken in North-Thames English; and pyncan became punchen, jnnehen, in South-1 hanies English, pinken in North-Thames English. The pret.


puhte was soon disused, po(u)kte taking its place: he pokte 'he thought', hint pokte 'it seemed to him'. In Standard M.E. the two verbs were still kept apart in the infin. and present tenses, which had the Midland forms ponken, t pcnke; pinken, me pitikep, etc.; but in the compound bepinken 'consider' — O. E. bepencan, the latter had already begun to encroach. In Northern E. pink completely supplanted penk, as in Mn. E. Hence Mn. E. think is historically = O. E. pyncan, and its pret. tkougkt = O. E. pokte. the pret. of the lost pencan'. (New Eng. Grom. 8 1340).
This brief statement leaves many questions unanswered which to my knowledge, have not been satisfactorily dealt with elsewhere either, and a detailed treatment of the mutual relations between the two M. E. verbs in question will therefore, I trust, not be deemed out of place here.
85. I .et us first take the phonetical side of the question. Of course, there were two possibilities.
a. pyncan niight be assimilated to pencan, or b. the opposite might take place.
The former of these two processes is observed in the Kentish dialect. Owing to unrounding and subseqtient lowering every y (long or short) becanie e in Kentish (Sievers Ags. Gromm. (j 154; Bülbring, Ae. Elcmenlarb. 162; Morsbach, M.E. Gramm. g 132), so that O.E. pyncan appears in this dialect as penchen, thus phonetically coinciding with penchen < O.E.. jtencan. The only O.E. instarice I have come across, occurs in the Blickl. Hom.:
Hie (= I>a geogo\ lustas) kim jtonne eft swi[>e bitere penca[, (p. 59.)
In the Kentish Serttions (O.E. Misc.) we find: al hit him may peuche forlore and idelnesse (35/2.)
There are two instances in Shorehani's Pocms and many in ( onf. Am. (I have noted nine) — Strange to say, there is not one in the Ayenbite; Dan Michel consistently employs forms of puiteken.
86. This change, however, was not restrirted to Kent. In Vices & Yirtnet we find:


9/26, Du me pen[c]st wel to wrei.-en to-fore gode for
Cvessere senne.
29/34. Pies ilke hali-.e nihte . .. make& him unwur\ alle \o faire Jiinges \e 011 \are swikele woreld faire
jienched; see also 3/14» 7 '/9-
I have found two instances in the B text of Lat)amon.
15856, [te tydinge me penchep game (cf. A pwicheit). 26028,.. . wonder [teil hit penche (cf. A. punche.) There is also one in the Passion of om Lord (from the Jesus MS.):
550, myd fule sunnes vs [>enchep alle a-blende. The Auchinleck MS. is of Southern origin; the scribe must have been a native of Kent or of one of the border districts, for it is teeming with forms of pene hen < O.E. pyncan; they occu.r more or less frequently in all the texts from this MS. I have examined (Amis &■ Amil; Guy of Warw.; St. Mergrete; Sl. Ka/erine, Canticnm de Creal.). There are 14 instances in Guy of Warw. alone. The MS. of Brunne's Handl Symie must also have been written in the South Kast of Eng land, for it shows the same peculiarity as the Auchinl. M.S.;
see 3969, 3972, 3977. 6°85- 6o9^>-
87. The second process took place in the Northern and
Midland dialects. In these the y of O.E. pyncan became un-
rounded. while the c (c ) in both pyncan and pencan was
unpalatalized, so that the two verbs appear in the Northern
dialect as \dnk and *penk, in the Midland dialect as \nnken
and Uenkeu respectively. _
If we now remember that in M.E. ^ and 1 were very much alike. so that e: i rhymes frequently occur (Morsbach 107. 114), and view this circumstance in connection with the fact that in some cases they were nearly synonymous, it cannot surprise us that in the long run confusion arose between the two verbs In the Northern dialect we have moreoverjo ra-kon with a special factor: the frequent transition from << to * (see Luick, Studiën zur englischen Lautgeschichte, Wien 1903).
In most Southern dialects confusion was not likely toanse owing to the great difference between the high-front-round vowel of punchen and the mid-front, non-rounded one of pene hen.


88. That similarity of the two vowels was a conditio sine qua non is proved not only by the absence of confusion in Southern English, but also by the fact that the equivalents of the two verbs have been kept apart in all those Germanic languages in which their vowels were (and are) e and u (j>) respectively, while they have been confounded wherever these vowels were e and i. No confusion is to be found in Middle and Modern High German, Middle Low German, and in Icelandic, while on the other hand Old Frisian thanka, thenkia, thensia and thinka, ihinszïa have got hopelessly mixed up, so that in Modern Frisian both verbs are represented by tinza or tynsa. In Middle Dutch, too, where the two verbs are denken and dunken, donken or dinken respectively, dinken is often employed for denken, although this has not led to ultimate confusion or blending (Mod. Du. denken and dunken).
89. The e of jietik was fïrst replaced by i in the Northern dialect. When the confusion began, is a question that will always remain unanswered, unless early Northern productions should be discovered. The change certainly was an accomplished fact before the end of the 13th century. In the North Eng. Leg. pink « O.E. pencan) is used throughout; the rhyme test is conclusive: the rhyme think: drink occurs six times, viz. 4, 51 : 52; 7, 151 1152; 7, 371 :372; 7, 445 1446; 11, 131 : 132 ; 27, 487 : 488. *)
To make assurance doubly sure, I have undertaken the rather laborious task of examining the rhymes of Cursor Mundi.
Here is the result.
341 -*2 C wink: think; F, G & T similar.
529-'30 C vm-think: suink ; F & G similar, but I bi-ptnke: swynke.
Ö47-'8 C think: ink; F & G similar but T funke: enke.
9811-'2 C thinc: suinc; F, G & T similar.
98q7-'8 C thinc: ink; F, G & T similar.
*) It need hardlv be observed that I have everywhere rigorously exeluded all cases in which the re was the slightest possibility ol f)ink being the representative ol' O.E. J)//nran.


VITA.
I, Willem van der Gaaf, was born at Oostwold, near Groningen (Holland) on Aug. 12, 1867. At an early age I decided to become a teacher, and passed the "Teacher's Exaniination in 188(3, and two veais later the "Headmaster's Examination .
I then applied myself to the study of modern languages, principally to English, and in 1894 obtained the B Certiflcate for this language. Since then I have devoted most of my leisure time to English Philology. For two years I attended the lectures of Prof. Uhlenbeck (formerly of Amsterdam, at present in Leiden) on Gothic and Old English, and for one year those of Prof. Boer
(Amsterdam) on Old Norse.
For a short time I also had the privilege of attending the lectures of Prof. Hoops and Prof. Neumann in Heidelberg. To all these gentlemen I beg to tender my heartiost (.hanks.