Middle English Grammar © Peter Hofstee 2011
CASES Nominative: Accusative: Genitive: Dative:
Subject; Complement (He is a man). Direct object. Possessive. Indirect object (‘She gave a cookie to him’).
PERSONAL PRONOUNS First-person pronouns
Second-person pronouns1
singular
plural
singular (inf.)
plural (formal)
nom.
I (I)
we (we)
thou/thow (you)2
ye (you)
acc.
me (me)
us (us)
thee (you)
you/yow (you)
gen.
my⒩⒠ (my)
our⒠⒮ (our)
thyn⒠ (your)
your⒠⒮ (your)
dat.
me (me)
us (us)
thee (you)
you/yow (you)
Third-person pronouns masculine
neuter
feminine
plural
nom.
he (he)
it, hit (it)
she (she)
they (they)
acc.
hym, him (him)
it, hit (it)
hir⒠, hyr⒠ (her)
hem (them)
gen.
his (his)
his (its)
hir⒠⒮ (her)
hir⒠⒮ (their)
dat.
hym, him (him)
it, hit (it)
hir⒠, hyr⒠ (her)
hem (them)
__________ 1 The sg. forms were used to indicate formality and distance, while the pl. forms expressed a degree of formality, distance and politeness. Note that God was also addressed informally with ‘thou’. 2
Also occur in contracted forms, e.g.: artow (art thou/thou art), canstow (can you/you can).
1
NOUNS
singular
plural
nom. / acc.
stoon
stoones
gen.
stoones
stoones
dat.
stoon⒠
stoones
Variant plural forms also include: • <-is, -ys>: ‘yeris’, ‘wyvys’. • <-z> if the word ends in : ‘tirauntz’, ‘instrumentz’. • <-en>, derived om the OE weak noun declension: ‘children’, ‘oxen’.
ADJECTIVES (Descended om OE; the table below applies to singular monosyllabic adjectives.) Weak (ending with ‘-e’)
Strong
If preceded by a definite article (the).
If preceded by an indefinite article (a, an).
If preceded by a demonstrative.
All other instances.
If preceded by a possessive pronoun. If preceded by a proper noun in gen. case (e.g. ‘Goddes owene son’) If preceded by an adjective in vocative case (cf. Latin, used for exclamations): ‘O deere housbonde!’
OPEN AND CLOSE VOWELS Long o: • Close /o:/ ➛ In PDE pronounced with /u/ (‘good’), /u:/ (‘foot’), or /ʌ/ (‘other’). • Open /ɔ:/ ➛ A diphthong in PDE. Or, sometimes the PDE spelling is . Long e: • Close /e:/ ➛ In PDE the spelling is or . • Open /ɛ:/ ➛ In PDE the spelling is . Silent e: ‘riche’ plus ‘h’ or vowel ➛ the ‘e’ is dropped.
2
VERBS VERB MOODS: Indicative, subjunctive (expressing a possibility or desire) and imperative. WEAK VERBS: Preterite is formed by adding <-⒠d>. STRONG VERBS: Preterite is formed by change of stem vowel (as in PDE bind/bound).
Present forms
sg.
pl.
Preterite (past) forms
Subjunctive forms
WEAK
STRONG
PRESENT
PRETERITE
loue (love)
louede
bounde
loue
binde
louede
louest (love)
louedest
bounde
loue
binde
louede
loueth* (loves)
louede
bounde
loue
binde
louede
loue(n) (love)
louede(n)
bounde(n)
loue(n)
binde(n)
louede(n)
* Third p. sg. variation: rideth, rit; sitteth, sit, writeth, writ; byndeth, bynt. Participle forms Present participle: Weak past participle: Strong past participle:
louyng⒠, bindyng⒠ ⒴louede ⒴bounde⒩
The irregular verb ‘be’ INDICATIVE
sg.
pl.
SUBJUNCTIVE
PARTICIPLES
IMPERATIVE
present
preterite
present
preterite
present
past
am
was
be
were
beyng⒠
been
art
were
be
were
is
was
be
were
be⒠⒩ ar⒠⒩
were⒩
are⒩
were⒩
be
beth
Verb phrases, auxiliaries, etc. myghte ≠ ‘might’, but usually means ‘could’. gan + infinitive: ‘gan’ is used as an auxiliary, indicating past tense (e.g. gan wype = ‘wiped’) shal: only translated with ‘shall’ if used with ‘I’. shulan & willan: mostly full verbs in ME. kunnan = know how
3
CONJUNCTIONS al ‘although, even if ’ and, and if ‘if ’ als, al so ‘as’ but, but if ‘if, unless’ eek/eke ‘also’ for, for that ‘because’
forthy ‘therefore’ forwhy ‘because’ for to ‘in order to’ or… or ‘either… or’ other, outher ‘or’ sin/syn ‘since’
sithe⒩ ‘since’ ther(as) ‘where’ wher ‘whether’; also used to introduce a question
DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS that (that) tho (those, then) this (this)
thise/these (these) ilke/thilke (the same/that, this)
yon (yonder)
FREQUENTLY USED WORDS again al be that anon benedicte⒠ but, but if can, kan clepe⒩ ech eek, eke ful han hem hem lost/liste hight ilke koude maugre namely nat ne noght nones, nonys nyce
back 3 although at once bless us unless know (how to), be able call each also very have them they wanted named, called same knew (how to), could in spite of especially, specifically not not, nor nought, nothing; not occasion foolish
o⒪, (that) ⒪on pardee rede right (adv.) sith somdel swich syn task: taketh than(ne) ther, ther as thoughte (imp.) thynketh (imp.) war a ware yow wher where as whylom yaf ycleped ydo
one “by God”; certainly advise, interpret, read just, quite since, then somewhat such since take then, than where it seemed it seems aware (‘beth war⒠’) beware, take heed where, whether where once (upon a time), formerly gave named done
Negated verbs nam nas nere niste
am not was not were not did not know
nolde noot nys nyste
would not know not is not knew not
__________ 3 Context-dependent, e.g. with a verb of movement. 4
