CHAPTER IV.

STAGES AND PERIODS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.

§ 77.

SPECIMENS OF ANGLO-SAXON.

Literal English Version.

Now must we praise
the guardian of heaven's
kingdom,

the Creator's might,
and his mind's thought,
glorious Father of men!
as of every wonder he,
Lord eternal,

formed the beginning.
He first framed

for the children of earth the heavens as a roof; holy Creator!

then mid-earth

the guardian of mankind,
the eternal Lord,

afterward produced
the earth for men,
Lord Almighty!

THE LORD'S PRAYER IN ANGLO-SAXON, WITH A GRAM

MATICAL ANALYSIS.

§78. Fæder ure, thu the eart on heofenum, si thin nama gehalgod; to-becume thin rice; geweordhe thin willa on eorthan swa swa on heofenum. Urne ge dæghwamlican hlaf syle us to-dæg, and forgyf us ure gyltas swa swa we forgifadh urum gyltendum, and ne gelæde thu us on costnunge, ac alys us of yfle. Fæder, "father," the linguals d and th being interchanged, here in the vocative case.

Ure, "our," possessive adjective pronoun. The English diphthong ou is substituted for the Anglo-Saxon '.

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Thu, "thou," the personal pronoun being inserted before the relative pronoun of the second person. Here, again, English ou =Anglo-Saxon û.

The, "who," indeclinable relative pronoun.

Eart, "art," 2d pers. sing. pres. indic. from wesan, "to be." On (whence English on), "in," here construed with the dative.

Heofenum, "the heavens," dative plural from heofen, "heaven."

Si, "be," 3d pers. sing. pres. subjunct. from wesan, "to be."
Thin, "thine," possessive adjective pronoun.

Nama, "name," with final a formative of nouns, which is dropped in English.

Gehalgod, "hallowed," past participle from gehalgian, “to hallow."

To-becume, "let come," 3d pers. sing. pres. subjunct. from to-becuman," to approach" or "come."-Thin, "thine," as be

fore.

Rice (comp. English ric in bishopric), "kingdom."

Geweordhe, "let be done," 3d pers. sing. pres. subjunct. from geweordhan, "to be done."-Thin, "thine," as before.

Willa, with final a formative of nouns, which is dropped in English.-On, "in" or "on," here construed with the dative, as before.

Eorthan, "earth," dative singular from eorthe, "earth."

Swa, "so," demonstrative adverb of manner, used as a demonstrative.-Swa, "as," demonstrative adverb of manner, here used as a relative.-On heofenum, " in the heavens," as before. Urne, "our," possessive adjective pronoun in the accusative case singular.

Ge, "also," conjunction.

Daghwamlican, "daily," adjective in the accusative case

singular.

Hlaf (whence English loaf), "bread," in the accusative case. Syle, "give thou," 2d pers. sing. imper, from syllan (whence English to sell), "to give."

Us, "to us," dative of we, "we."

To-dæg, "to-day," adverb.

And, "and," conjunction.

Forgyf, "forgive thou," 2d pers. sing. imper. from forgifan, "to forgive."-Us, "to us," as before.

Ure, "our," in accusative plural.

Gyltas, "debts," accusative plural, from gylt, "a debt."— Swa swa, 66 so as," as before.

We, "we."

Forgifadh, "forgive," 1st pers. plur. pres. indic. from forgifan, "to forgive."

Urum, "our," in dative plural.

Gyltendum, "debtors," dative plural, from gyltend, "a debtor."-And, "and," as before.

Ne, "not," adverb of negation.

Gelæde, "lead," 2d per. sing. imper. from geladan, "to lead." -Thu, "thou," as before.

Us, "us," accusative of we, "we."

On, "into," here construed with an accusative.

Costnunge, "temptations," accusative plural, from costnung, "a temptation."

Ac, "but," conjunction.

Alys, "deliver thou," imper. from alysan, "to deliver."— Us, "us," as before.

Of (whence English of), "from," construed with the dative. Yfle, "evil," dative sing. from yfel, "evil."

SPECIMENS OF SEMI-SAXON.

§ 79. The term Semi-Saxon is applied to the language while it was going through the transition state from Saxon to English. It is characterized by its retaining the Saxon phraseology and the grammatical construction, while the words are rapidly changing their forms and softening down their terminations.

[A Fragment, supposed to have been written about the year 1150.]

Semi-Saxon.

De wes bold gebyld

er þu iboren were;

Je wes molde imynt

er du of moder come;
ac hit nes no idiht
ne peo deopnes imeten;

Literal English.

For thee was a house built

Ere thou wast born;

For thee was a mold appointed
Ere thou of mother camest;
But it is not prepared,
Nor the deepness meted:

§ 80. In the Anglo-Saxon, number, case, and person are distinguished by a change in the vowel of the final syllable; in the Old English these vowels are all confounded; and in our modern English they are lost. Prepositions did the work of the lost inflections. "The only sure test by which we can distinguish an Old English from an Anglo-Saxon MS., is a confounding of the vowels of the final syllable, which is not done in AngloSaxon."-EDWIN GUEST, London Philological Society.

The following extract is from the proclamation of Henry III. to the people of Huntingdonshire, A.D. 1258. It currently passes for the earliest specimen of English, i. e., Old English:

Henry, thurg Godes fultome, King on Engleneloande, Lhoaurd on Yrloand, Duke on Normand, on Acquitain, Eorl on Anjou, send I greting to alle hise holde, ilaerde & ilewerde, on Huntingdonschiere. That witen ge well alle, thaet we willen & unnen (grant) thaet ure raedesmen alle other, the moare del of heom, thaet beoth ichosen thurg us and thurg thaet loandes-folk on ure Kuneriche, habbith idon, and schullen don, in the worthnes of God and ure threowthe, for the freme of the loande, thurg the besigte of than toforen iseide raedesmen, beo stedefæst and ilestinde in all thinge a butan ænde."

Literal Translation." Henry, through God's support, King of England, Lord of Ireland, Duke of Normandy, of Aquitaine, Earl of Anjou, sends greeting to all his subjects, learned and unlearned, of Huntingdonshire. This know ye well all, that we will and grant what our counselors all, or the more part of them, that be chosen through us and through the land folk of our kingdom, have done, and shall do, to the honor of God, and our allegiance, for the good of the land, through the determination of the aforesaid counselors, be steadfast and permanent in all things without end."

The following is from Robert of Gloucester, who lived in the

times of Henry III. and Edward I., in the latter part of the thirteenth century:

Thus come lo! Englond into Normannes honde;

And the Normans ne couthe speke tho bote her owe speche,

And speke French as dude atom ond here chyldren dude al so teche;

So that heyman of thys lond that of her blod come,

Holdeth alle thulke speche that hii of hem nome;

Vor bote a mon couthe French, me tolth of hym well lute;

Ac low men holdeth to Englyss ond to her kund speche zute.

Ich wene ther ne be mon in world contreyes none,

That ne holdeth to her kund speche, bote Engelond one;

Ac wel me wol vorto conne bothe well yt ys,

Vor the more that a man con, the more he ys.

SPECIMENS OF MIDDLE ENGLISH.

§ 81. In Chaucer, and Mandeville, and other writers of that age, we have a transition from Old to what has been called Middle English. The last characteristic of a grammar different from that of the present English is the plural form in -en: We tellen, Ye tellen, They tellen. As this disappears, which it does in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, the Middle English may be said to pass into the New or Modern English.

Beside that isle of Mistorak, upon the left side, nigh to the river Phison, is a marvelous thing. There is a vale between the mountains that dureth near a four mile. And some clepen it the vale enchanted, some clepen it the vale of devils, and some clepen it the vale perilous. This vale is full of devils, and hath been always. And men say there that it is one of the entries of hell. In that vale is plenty of gold and silver; wherefore many misbelieving men, and many Christian men also, gon in oftentime, for to have of the treasure that there is, but few comen again; and namely of the misbelieving men, ne of the Christian men nouther: for they ben anon strangled of devils.