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common in Chaucer's works: 'his eyghen (of eyes) sight' occurs in Canterbury Tales, l. 10134 (Wright's Text).

ADJECTIVES.

Adjectives, like the modern German, have two forms-Definite and Indefinite. The definite form preceded by the definite article, a demonstrative adjective, or a possessive pronoun, terminates in - in all cases of the singular; as 'the yonge sone,' 'his halfe cours,' &c. Words of more than one syllable nearly always omit the final -e.

The vocative case of the adjective takes this -e; as 'leeve brother' (1. 326, p. 38); 'O stronge God' (l. 1515, p. 74).

Degrees of Comparison. - The Comparative degree is formed by adding -er (-re) to the Positive; as lever gretters.

We have some few forms in -re remaining; as derre (dearer); more (mare); ferre (further); herre (higher); nerre, ner (nearer); sorre (sorer).

Leng, lenger (lengre), = longer; strenger, = stronger, are examples of vowel-change; as seen in the modern English elder, the comparative of old.

Bet (bettre) and mo are contracted forms.

The Superlative degree terminates in -este (-est)t: nest or next, and hext (highest) are abbreviated forms.

Number.-The plural of adjectives is denoted by the final -e:— (Prol. l. 9.)

'And smalë fowles maken melodie.'

Adjectives of more than one syllable, and dicatively, mostly drop the -e in the plural. of Romance origin form the plural in -es; as

adjectives used preSome few adjectives 'places delitables.'

s Occasionally the definite form of the comparative seems to end in -ere (-re), to distinguish it from the indefinite form in -er; but no positive rule can be laid down, as -er and -re are easily interchanged.

t The superlative of adverbs always seem to end in -est, and not in -este; cp. p. 69, 11, 1340, 1349, with ll. 1342, 1343, 1344, 1345.

DEMONSTRATIVES.

1. The old plural of the definite article tho (A. S. tha) is still used by Chaucer, but the uninflected the is more frequently used. In the phrases 'that oon,' 'that other'-which in some dialects became toon (ton), and tother—that is the old form of the neuter article; but Chaucer never uses that except as a demonstrative adjective, as in the present stage of the language.

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2. Atte at the (A. S. at tham; O. E. at than, attan, atta, masc. and neut.); the feminine would be atter (O. E.), at þære (A. S.) 3. Tho must be rendered those, as well as the; as 'tho wordes,' 'and tho were bent.' It is occasionally used pronominally, as 'oon of tho that' one of those that.

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4. This has for its plural thise, thes, these (A. S. thás, thæs). In some MSS. this occurs for thise.

5. Thilkë (A.S. thyllic, thylc = the like; O.E. thellich, pl. thelliche), the like that.

6. That ilke, that same (A. S. ilc, same; i is a remnant of an old demonstrative base; -lc=lic = like).

7. Som . . . somone . . . another.

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He moot ben deed, the kyng as schal a page;

Som in his bed, som in the deepë see,

Som in the largë feeld, as men may se.'

PRONOUNS.

(Knightes Tale, 11. 2172-4.)

SING.

min (myn), mi (my),

Nom.
Gen.

I, Ich, Ik,

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PLURAL.

we.

our, oure.

us.

ye.

your, youre.

yow

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1. The Independent forms of the pronouns, which are also used predicatively, are min (pl. mine); oure, oures, ours; thin (pl. thine); youre, youres, yours; hire, heres, hers; here, heres, theirs.

2. The Midland dialect seems to have borrowed the forms oures, youres, &c., from the Northern dialect, in which oure, youre, &c., are not used.

3. The dative cases of the pronouns are used after wel, wo, loth, leef (lief), with impersonal verbs, as 'me mette;' ' him thoughte;' and with some verbs of motion, as 'goth him;' 'he rydeth him.' 4. The pronoun thow is sometimes joined to the verb, as schaltow, wiltow.

5. The Interrogative pronouns are who (gen. whos; dat. and acc. whom), which and what.

(a) Which has often the sense of what, what sort of:—

'Which a miracle ther befel anoon.'

(Knightes Tale, 1817; see Prol. 1. 40.)

It is not used exactly as a relative, as in modern English, but is joined with that; as 'Hem whiche that wepith;' 'His love the which that he oweth.'

(b) What is occasionally used for why (cp. Lat. quid, Ger. was):

'What schulde he studie and make himselven wood?'

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6. That is a relative pronoun, but it is often used with the personal pronouns, in the following manner :

(a) That he who.

'A knight ther was, and that a worthy man,

That from the tyme that he first began

To ryden out, be lovede chyvalrye.' (Prol. II. 43-45.)

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'Al were they sorë hurt, and namely oon,
That with a spere was thirled his brest boon.'

(c) That him whom.

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(Knightes Tale, ll. 1851-52.)

'I saugh to-day a corps yborn to chirche
That now on Monday last I saugh bim wirche.'

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(Milleres Tale.) This construction occurs in A.S. writers. Cp. That næs ná eówres bances ac thurh God, þE ic burh HIS willan hider asend was that was not of your own accord but through God, through whose will I was sent hither. (Gen. xlv. 8.)

7. The words who and who so are used indefinitely; as, 'As who seith': = as one says; 'Who so that can him rede' (Prol. 1. 741)= if that any one can read him.

8. Me and men are used like the French on, English one.

Me, which must be distinguished from the dative me, was in use as an indefinite pronoun much later than is usually considered by English grammarians :—

'And stop me (= let any one stop) his dice you are a villaine.'
(Lodge, Wits Miserie.")

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u In this edition I have always given the full form of the preterite in -ede, although the MSS. mostly write -ed; but in the best MS. of Chaucer's prose translation of Boethius the preterite ends in -ede (-de, -te), very seldom in -ed (-d, -t). In reading, doubtless, the final -e was frequently dropped.

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1. In some manuscripts the t of the 2nd person sing. present tense is sometimes dropped, as in the Harl. MS., dos=dost, has hast, &c. This has been considered by some as a mere clerical error; but in the East Midland dialects, there was a tendency to drop the t, probably arising from the circumstance of the 2nd person of the verb in the Northumbrian dialects terminating always in -es.

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2. Verbs of Saxon origin, which have d or t for the last letter of the root (and one or two that have s), sometimes keep the contracted form in the 3rd sing., as sit = sitteth, sits; writ writeth, writes; fint=findeth, finds; halt=holdeth, holds; rist: riseth, rises; stont = stondeth stands x.

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3. We often find -th instead of -eth, as spekth=speaketh.

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4. In some MSS. of the Cant. Tales, the plural of the present indicative occasionally ends in -eth (-th), which was the ordinary inflexion for all persons in the Old English Southern dialects.

'And over his heed ther schyneth two figures.'

(Knightes Tale, 1. 1185, Harl. MS.) 5. There are two other classes of the weak conjugation which form the past tense by -de or -të. To the first class belong—

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Some few verbs have a change of vowel in the past tense; as,—

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If the root ends in d or t, preceded by another consonant, e only is added, as

PRES.

Wenden, to turn,

Sterten, to start,

Letten, to hinder,

PAST.

wende (=wend-de).
sterte (= stert-te).
lette (= let-te).

This contraction occasionally takes place in the imperative plural. See Nonne Prestes Tale, 1. 622.

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