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ADDITIONAL CORRIGENDA IN PART I.

p. 13, 1. 7 from bottom, omit But for convenience, a very brief key is given on p. 16.

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p. 153, 1. 9 and 3 from bottom of text, omit and which, and that the change.

p. 254, n. 1, l. 6, omit (possibly a reference to St. Mary le bon); n. 3, add at the

end of this note: See note on v. 672, Chap. VII. § 1.

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p. 407, table col. 2, 1. 4, for "(ou) o oo oa" read "(00) o oo oa." Note that "(ou) ou ow" in col. 3, l. 4 is correct.

CORRIGENDA IN PART II.

p. 473, n. col. 2, 1. 1, for p. 446 read p. 447.

p. 477, n. 2, 1. 3, omit more.

p. 506, n. 2, last word, for (riú·le) read (ruu·le), See p. 573, under IU. p. 562, translation, verse 13, 1. 4, for yon, read yonder.

STEPHEN AUSTIN, PRINTER, HERTFord.

NOTICE.

ON account of the unexpected length of the present investigations, the Societies for which they are published have found it most convenient to divide them into four parts, instead of two as previously contemplated. The present second part concludes most of the researches themselves. The third part, containing Chapters VII. and VIII., is in the press, and will be ready by January, 1870. Chapter VII. will contain an introduction to the specimen of Chaucer; a critical text of the Prologue to the Canterbury Tales, with especial reference to final e, metrical peculiarities, and introduction of French words, together with the conjectured pronunciation; a passage from Gower, printed for the first time, according to three MSS. with the conjectured pronunciation; and a specimen of Wycliffe. Chapter VIII. will contain Salesbury's and Barcley's works; specimens of phonetic writing in the XVI th century, by Hart, Bullokar, Gill, and Butler; a Pronouncing Vocabulary of the period; an account of French and Latin pronunciation in the xvi th century; an examination of Spenser's and Shakspere's rhymes, and Shakspere's puns; and an attempt to restore Shakspere's pronunciation. The fourth part, will treat of English pronunciation during the XVIIth and XVIII th centuries, and of dialectic usages, and will contain full indices to every part of the work, but the time of its appearance cannot yet be announced.

A. J. E.

KENSINGTON,
1 AUG., 1869.

CONTENTS OF PART II.

§ 2. Unrhymed Poems of the XIII th Century and Earlier, pp. 486-497. ·
No. 1. Orrmin's Orrmulum, end of the XII th Century, pp.

486-495.

No. 3. Layamon's Brut, beginning of XIII th Century, pp.

For the intended contents of the whole work, see Part I.

CHAPTER V.

ON THE PRONUNCIATION OF ENGLISH DURING THE THIRTEENTH AND PREVIOUS CENTURIES, AND OF THE TEUTONIC AND SCANDINAVIAN SOURCES OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.

§ 1. Rhymed Poems of the Thirteenth Century and Earlier.

It remains for us to apply the method employed for ascertaining the pronunciation of English during the XIV th century, to the discovery, if possible, of that of the XIII th century, and for this purpose it is necessary to examine the rhymed poems of this date in manuscripts which seem to belong with certainty to that period. Poems composed in the XIII th century, but transcribed in the XIV th, and therefore presenting the peculiar orthography of the latter period, are of little use for our purpose. This will account for the rejection of many rhymed poems which belong to this period. The following cases have been selected with some care.

The CUCKOO SONG and PRISONER'S PRAYER, which stand first, have their antiquity well established, and possess the great advantage of a contemporary musical setting, which is of considerable assistance in determining the pronunciation or elision of the final e. As the old notation of music requires especial study to read, faithful translations into the modern notation, preserving exactly the number and pitch of the notes, have been printed. This is precisely similar to reducing the manuscript letters to the form of Roman types, extending the contractions and pointing. In the first piece the time of each note is accurately determined in the original, and is strictly observed in the transcript. In the second, which is in plain chant, this is not the case, and hence such time has been assigned as was suggested by a careful examination of the notes in connection with the words.

In approaching these earlier poems we stand already upon very secure ground. The values of a, ai, au, e, ei, eu, i, ie, o, oi, ou, as (aa a, ai, au, ee e, ei ai, eu, ii i, ee, oo o, ui, oou ou) have every appearance of being the most ancient possible, and the only doubtful points turn on such fine

distinctions as (a a, e E, i i), which it would be impossible to determine from the rhymes alone with certainty, since the necessarily strongly provincial character of all early poems, will certainly admit of rhymes apparently lax, which only represent peculiar pronunciations. In fact there was no longer a common or a recognized superior dialect, for the English language had long ceased to be that of the nobility. From the Anglo-Saxon Charters of the Conqueror down to the memorable proclamation issued by Henry III. (see below, p. 498), and for a century afterwards, the English language was ignored by the authorities, and was only used by or for "lewd men.' But there was a certain amount of education among the priests, who were the chief writers, and who saved the language from falling into the helplessness of peasant dialogue.

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The chief points of difficulty are the use of ou for (uu, u), the use of u for (yy, y) and even (i, e), and of eu for (yy). The meaning of ea, eo, oa, practically unused in the xiv th century, has also to be determined. The result of the present investigation may be conveniently anticipated. It will be found that ou was not used at all for (uu, u) till near the close of the XIII th century, when the growing use of u for (yy) or (i, e), rendered the meaning of u uncertain. But in the pure XIII th century writings u only is employed for (uu), and becomes a test orthography (p. 408). The combination eu or ew, does not seem to have been used except as (eu). The combinations ea, eo, so frequently rhyme with e, and interchange with it orthographically, that their meaning was probably intentionally (ea, eo), with the stress on the first element, and the second element obscure, so that the result, scarcely differed from (ee') or even (ee). The combination oa was either (aa) or (aa). The consonants seem to have been the same as in the XIV th century, although 3 may possibly have retained more of the (gh) than the (5) character.

1 Man og to luuen dat rimes ren,
de Wiffed wel de logede men,
hu man may him wel loken
dog he ne be lered on no boken,
Luuen god and feruen him ay.

Genesis and Exodus, 1-5. pis boc is y-mad uor lewede men.

Ayenbite of Inwyt, suprà p. 412. 2 The general rule for the stress upon the elements of diphthongs is that it falls upon the first, but this rule is occasionally violated. Thus in many combinations with initial (i, u) the stress falls on the second element, in

2

which case, according to some writers, the first element falls into (J, w), which however, others deny. In (iu, ui) the stress is properly on the first element, as also in most provincial diphthongs beginning with (i), as (stiaan, mien) = stone, mane. But in Italian chiaro, ghiaccio (kiaa ro, giat tshio) the (i) is touched quite lightly, and is almost evanescent, so that (kjaa ro, gjattsho) would generally be thought enough. A method is therefore required for indicating the stress, when difficulty might arise, or when it is

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