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As considerable interest attaches to the determination of such adjectives and substantives as had a final e in early English, and as Orrmin's versification establishes with certainty the pronunciation of such letters, except when they are elidably situate, I have collected from White's glossary all such words, adding the meaning. A few substantives are only found in oblique cases, and these are marked because the e may be only inflexional. In the case of the adjectives it is not always certain, from a simple inspection of the glossary, whether the e is a mere mark of the plural or of the definite inflection. When I have detected either of these to be the case I have omitted the adjective from the list, but I have not thought it necessary to verify every case. Such a table of German nouns and adjectives would seem ridiculous to a German, because he cannot dissociate the e from the words. We have become so used to its absence that every kind of artificial means is necessary to restore the association.

LIST OF ORRMIN'S ADJECTIVES AND SUBSTANTIVES ENDING IN E.

adle disease

æbære clear

ægede + luxury

ære ear

æte food ahhte goods

ane alone (? adv.)

ange sorrow anndsæte odious

anndsware answer

are grace

arrke ark

asse ass

axe axe

azhe awe bære bier

bede prayer belle bell

bene prayer bennchet bench berrmet barm berrne + barn

blisse bliss
blipe blithe

blome blome

blostme blossom
bode command
bone boon
bote remedy
bope booth

brappe anger
breme furious
bridale bridal

bridgume bride

groom
bulaxe axe
bule bull
bure + bower

care care
chele cold

chepinngbope mar-
ket-booth
chesstre city
claket accusation
clene clean

bilenge belonging to cribbe crib

bettre better

birde lineage

bisne example

bite morsel

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cůde cud

cullfre dove

ezzet fear

cweme agreeable

fæwe few

hellfe handle

hellpe help

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pappet breast píne pain proféte prophet resste repose riche kingdoms rich rimet metre rode + rood

rote root rume wide rune counsel

sæte + seat

sahhte concurring sake dispute sallfe salve sallme + psalm same + same sawle soul scone beauteous seoll be sellpe happiness serrghe sorrow sexe six

sexte sixth sextene sixteen shæ pet sheath shaffte creature shame shame shande disgrace shene sheen a. shriffte shrift sihhpe sight

grievous a.

swepe whip

swipe great

tăle tale number temmple temple tende tenth téne ten, injury s. tíme time tunge tongue turrtle turtle

twinne twin

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wesste waste desert

s. and a.

wezze way whæte wheat

wicke mean weak

wicked

widdwe widow
wilde wild
wille will
wis, wise wise a.
wise wise s.

wite prophet
wite t punishment
witezhunnge pro-
phecy
wipperrstrennche +
opposing power

wlite t face wræche vengeance wrappet wrath s. wrecche wretched wrihhte (1) maker; (2) blame wude wood s. wuke week wulle † wool wunde † wound wurrpet worship wurrpshipe worship zate gate door zerrdet yard rod zife gift

zure your

It will be found on examination that though many of the above -e are justified by the existence of some final vowel or syllable in Anglosaxon or Icelandic, not a few have been clearly subsequently developed. See supra, p. 345, note 2, and the Table, pp. 379-397.

2. LAZAMON'S BRUT, BEGINNING OF XIII TH CENTURY.

Although Lazamons Brut1 is written in verse, yet the rhythm and orthography are so irregular that it is scarcely easier to conjecture the pronunciation than if it were mere prose. In fact with Orrmin we take leave of all certainty arising from metre or strict orthography. But the extraordinary diversity of spelling is of itself some assistance.

Weighing the results already obtained we cannot be very far wrong in supposing a, e, i, o, u to be (aa a, ee e, ii i, oo o, uu u), with the doubtful (i) or (y) for u occasionally as in lut, lutel, ludere (lit, lit el, lidh'ere) few, little, wicked. Again a may be called (EE, E), and as eo interchanges with e it may be (ee) or (eeo). Ea is rare and interchanges with a, so that it may be (ea) or even (eá) with a more distinct (a). Among the consonants g, h, follow the same rule as in Orrmin, ch is of course (tsh), but (sh) does not seem to have been developed, as sc is constantly used.

On account of the extreme western locality of the author's residence (3 miles south-east of Bewdley, in Worcestershire) there may have been many dialectic peculiarities which would tend to give the letters slightly different values from those thus assigned, but it seems probable that such a pronunciation as the following would have been intelligible.3

Lazamon's Brut.

Madden's edition, vol. i. p. 124, v. 2922.
Sixti winter hefde Leir?
pis lond al to welden.
be king hefde preo dohtren?
bi his drihliche quen.
nefde he nenne sune!
per fore he warð sari.
his manscipe to halden?
buten þa preo dohtren.

1 Lazamons Brut, or Chronicle of Britain; a poetical semi-saxon paraphrase of the Brut of Wace, now first published from the Cottonian manuscripts in the British Museum, accompanied by a literal translation,_notes, and a grammatical glossary. By Sir Frederic Madden, K.H., keeper of the MSS. in the British Museum. Published by the Society of Antiquaries of London, 1847, 3 vols, royal 8vo. The Cottonian MSS. are Calig. A. ix, the older version, which is attributed to the beginning of the XIIIth century at latest, and Otho. C. xiii, which is of a much later date.

Conjectured Pronunciation.

Siks ti winter Hееv de Lair
dhis lond al to-weld'en.

Dhe kiq Heev de threo dokht ren
bii His drikh litshe kween.
Neev'd нe nen'e suun'e,
dheerfoor. He wardh sari,
His man skiipe to hald en,
buut en dha threo dokht⚫ren.

2 The forms litul, lidere also occur. It is quite possible that in such words both modes of speech (lut el, litel) occurred in these Western dialects, see p. 298, p. 300 note 2, and p. 424.

3 The many interesting points which would arise from a careful study of the dialectic peculiarities indicated by the orthography are of course passed over here, as the object is only to ascertain the phonetic meaning of the letters, which is an entirely preliminary investigation without which the other could not properly succeed, but which is quite independent of any other research.

pa ældeste dohter haihte Gornoille.

pa oder Regau.

pa pridde Cordoille.

Heo wes pa gungeste suster! a wliten alre uairest;

heo wes hire fader al swa leof!

swa his agene lif.
pa ældede pe king?
& wakede an aðelan.
& he hine bi-pohte?
wet he don mahte.
of his kineriche:
æfter his deie.

He seide to himsuluen?
þat þat vuel wes:

Ic wlle mine riche to-don? & allen minen dohtren.

& zeuen hem mine kine-peode?

& twemen mine bearnen. Ac ærst ic wille fondien! whulchere beo mi beste freond. and heo scal habbe þat beste del!

of mine drihlichen lon.

pus pe king pohte!

and þer æfter he worhte.

Dha Eld este dokhter Haikhte Gornuile,

dha oo dher Reeg'au

dha thrid e Korduil'e

Heo wes dha Juq'este suster,

a lwii'ten al re vair est.

Heo wes Hiir'e faa der al swa

leof

swaa His aagh ene liif. Dhaa Eldrede dhe kiq

and waa kede an aa dhelan

and Hee Hiin'e bithokht⚫e
whet He doon makht⚫e
of his kin eriitshe

Eft er His dai'e.

He said e to him selven, dhat dhat iivel wes:

Ik wil'e miin'e riitshe to-doon and allen miin'en dokht ren,

and Jeev en Hem miin'e kin'etheo.de

and tweem en miin'e bearn en, ak Eerst ik wil'e fond Jen whilk ere beo mi best e freond, and Heo skal Hab'e dhat best e deel

Of miin'e drikh litshen loon. [deel Dhus dhe kiq thokht e

and dheeraft er нe workhte.

Sir F. Madden's translation of the above, omitting the parts relating to the

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§ 3. Prose Writings of the XIII th Century and Earlier.

Here we have only the spelling to trust to, and to see whether the determination of the values of the letters by means of the poets is borne out by the systematic orthography of the prose writers. Very brief notices are all that need to be given.

1. ONLY ENGLISH PROCLAMATION OF HENRY III, 18 Oct. 1258. This proclamation, issued by the barons in the king's name, has been fully considered in a separate work,' in which the pronunciation was assigned in accordance with the results at which I had then arrived, but subsequent research has induced me slightly to alter my opinion on certain points. Considering that the document is formal, it seems probably that ea, eo had their full (éa, éo) sounds. It is even possible that eow may have been (éou) rather than (éu), but the constant practice of writing ew in trewe leads me to believe that the initial eo of this combination has to be read (e) simply. The occurrence of simple ew, however, casts some doubt upon this conclusion as respects the actual pronunciation of the scribe. There is probably little doubt that the more general pronunciation of ea, eo, at that time was (ee), and of eow (eu). The combination oa is rare. We have seen it rhyme with (aa) in Genesis and Exodus (p. 467), and the writer may have said (aa, aa, aah), the last as an intermediate sound. As a compromise I use (aa, a). The interchange of a, e in rædesmen redesmen, seems to imply that a had become simple (ee, e). In accordance with former usage (ai) is employed for ei, but we must not fail to observe the correspondence of the French Fiz Geffrey, p. 504, with the English Geffrees sune p. 505, shewing that the pronunciation (Dzhefree) was then current (suprà p. 462). The name Aldithel' in the English, p. 504, and Audithel' in the French, p. 505, seems to be a contraction for the name Aldidelege in Staffordshire (Domesday Book, printed edition, fo. 250b, col. 2, photozincographed edition, Staffordshire, p. x. col. 2,) =ald-ide-lege, or ags. eald yoa lega, that is, old-water-land, compare Cadmon's ea-stream-ya. Ide, still called (Iid) suprà p. 291, is in Devonshire (Domesday Book, fo. 101b, col. 2,) as also Ideford; Idehill is in Kent, Iden in Sussex. Hence the probable alteration of the name was (ald-ii dha-lee-gha, ald-ii-dhe-lai, auld-i-lai, aud-e-lai, ▲▲d·lee, ▲▲d·li), compare Audelay, p. 449, n. 2, and the modern Audley. The other vowels and the consonants present no difficulty. The length of the vowels, where it differs in my scheme

1 The only English Proclamation of Henry III, 18 October 1258, and its treatment by former editors and translators, considered and illustrated; to which are added editions of the Cuckoo Song and The Prisoner's Prayer, Lyrics of the XIII th century, London, 1868, 8vo. pp. 135, by the author of this treatise.

2 The error of supposing long i to have been occasionally (ai), see suprà p. 279, was not detected till after the book had been printed off, and is referred to in the errata. The use of Henr' send igretinge for sendep, is well illustrated by Prof. F. J. Child, suprà p. 354, art. 51.

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