The English Language Part 107

Boec, _books_ Bec.

Coelan, _cool_ Celan.

Doeman, _judge_ Deman.

Foedan, _feed_ Fedan.

Spoed, _fortune_ Sped.

Swoet, _sweet_ Swet.

Woenan, _think_, _ween_ Wenan.

5. _The Durham Gospels--Quatuor Evangelia Latine, ex translatione B.

Hieronymi, c.u.m glossa interlineata Saxonica._ Nero, D. 4.

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_Matthew_, cap. 2.

miy arod gecenned were haelend in aer byrig c.u.m ergo natus esset Jesus in Bethleem Judaeae

in dagum Herodes cyninges heonu a tungulcraeftga of eustdael in diebus Herodis Regis, ecce magi ab oriente

cweoonde cwomun to hierusalem hiu cwoedon huer is e acenned venerunt Hierosolymam, dicentes, Ubi est qui natus

tungul is cynig Judeunu gesegon we foron sterru his in est rex Judaeorum? vidimus enim stellam ejus in

eustdael and we cwomon to woranne hine geherde wiototlice oriente et venimus adorare eum. Audiens autem

a burgwaeras herodes se cynig gedroefed waes and alle a hierusolemisca mi Herodes turbatus est et omnis Hierosolyma c.u.m

mesapreusti him and gesomnede alle a aldormenn biscopa illo. Et congregatis (_sic_) omnes principes sacerdotum

geascode and a uuutta aes folces georne gefragnde fra him huer crist et scribas populi, sciscitabatur ab iis ubi Christus

acenned were.

nasceretur.

6. _The Rituale Ecclesiae Dunhelmensis._--Edited for the Surtees Society by Mr. Stevenson. Place: neighbourhood of Durham. Time: A.D. 970. Differences between the Psalter and Ritual:--

_a._ The form for the first person is in the Psalter generally _-u_. In the Ritual it is generally _-o_. In West Saxon, _-e_.

PSALTER.--_Getreow-u_, I believe; _cleopi-u_, I call; _sell-u_, I give; _ondred-u_, I fear; _ageld-u_, I pay; _getimbr-u_, I build. Forms in _-o_; _sitt-o_, I sit; _drinc-o_, I drink.

RITUAL.--_Feht-o_, I fight; _wuldrig-o_, I glory. The ending in _-u_ is rarer.

_b._ In the West Saxon the plural present of verbs ends in _-a_: _we lufi-a_, _ge lufi-a_, _hi lufi-a_. The Psalter also exhibits this West Saxon form. But the plurals of the Ritual {550} end in _-s_: as, _bidd-as_=_we pray_; _giwoed-es_=_put on_; _wyrc-as_=_do_.

_c._ The infinitives of verbs end in the West Saxon in _-an_, as _cwed-an_=_to say_. So they do in the Psalter. But in the Ritual the _-n_ is omitted, and the infinitive ends simply in _-a_: _cuoetha_=_to say_; _inngeonga_=_to enter_.

d. The oblique cases and plurals of substantives in West Saxon end in _-an_: as _heortan_=_heart's_; _heortan_=_hearts_. So they do in the Psalter. But in the Ritual the _-n_ is omitted, and the word ends simply in _-a_ or _-e_; as _nome_=_of a name_ (West Saxon _nam-an_); _hearta_=_hearts_.

7. _The Rushworth Gospels._--Place, Harewood in Wharfdale, Yorks.h.i.+re. Time, according to Wanley, the end of the ninth century.

Here observe--

1. That the Ruthwell inscription gives us a sample of the so-called Northumbrian Anglo-Saxon, and that as it is spoken in Scotland, _i.e._, in Galloway. For the bearings of this see Part II., c. 3.

2. That the Rushworth Gospels take us as far south as the West Riding of Yorks.h.i.+re.

3. That there are no specimens from any c.u.mberland, Westmoreland, or North Lancas.h.i.+re localities, these being, most probably, exclusively Celtic.

-- 693. The most general statements concerning this great section of the Anglo-Saxon, is that--

1. It prefers the slenderer and more vocalic to the broader and more diphthongal forms.

2. The sounds of _k_ and _s_, to those of _ch_ and _sh_.

3. The forms without the prefix _ge-_, to those with them. Nevertheless the form _ge-cenned_ (=_natus_) occurs in the first line of the extract from the Durham Gospels.

-- 694. The Old and Middle English MSS. from this quarter are numerous; falling into two cla.s.ses:

1. Transcriptions with accommodation from works composed southwards. Here the characteristics of the dialect are not absolute. {551}

2. Northern copies of northern compositions. Here the characteristics of the dialect are at the maximum. Sir Tristram is one of the most important works of this cla.s.s; and in the wider sense of the term _Northumbrian_, it is a matter of indifference on which side of the Border it was composed.

See -- 190.

-- 695. Taking the counties in detail, we have--

_Northumberland._--Northern frontier, East Scotland; the direction of the influence being from South to North, rather than from North to South, _i. e._, Berwicks.h.i.+re and the Lothians being Northumbrian and English, rather than Northumberland Scotch.

West frontier Celtic--the c.u.mberland and Westmoreland Britons having been encroached upon by the Northumbrians of Northumberland.

Present dialect.--Believed to be nearly uniform over the counties of Northumberland and Durham; but changing in character in North Yorks.h.i.+re, and in c.u.mberland and Westmoreland.

The Anglo-Saxon immigration considered to have been Angle (so-called) rather than Saxon.

Danish admixture--Very great. Possibly, as far as the marks that it has left on the language, greater than in any other part of _England_.[79]--See -- 152.

_c.u.mberland, Westmoreland, North Lancas.h.i.+re._--Anglo-Saxon elements introduced from portions of Northumbria rather than directly from the Continent.

Celtic language persistent until a comparatively late though undetermined period.

Northern frontier, West-Scotland--the direction of the influence being from Scotland to England, rather than _vice versa_; Carlisle being more of a Scotch town than Berwick.

Specimens of the dialects in the older stages, few and doubtful.

Topographical nomenclature characterized by the preponderance of compounds of _-thwaite_; as _Braithwaite_, &c.

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_North_ Lancas.h.i.+re, Westmoreland, and c.u.mberland, "exhibit many Anglian[80]

peculiarities, which may have been occasioned in some degree by the colonies in the south, planted in that district by William Rufus (Saxon Chronicle, A.D. 1092.) A comparison of Anderson's ballads with Burns's songs, will show how like c.u.mbrian is to Scottish, but how different. We believe that Weber is right in referring the romance of Sir Amadas to this district. The mixture of the Anglian forms _gwo_, _gwon_, _bwons_, _boyd-word_ (in pure Northumbrian), _gae_, _gane_, _banes_, _bod-worde_, with the northern terms, _tynt_, _kent_, _bathe_, _mare_, and many others of the same cla.s.s, could hardly have occurred in any other part of England."[81]