the corrupt gede (ivit). The new sound sh instead of sc, seldom found hitherto, is now established in the South; as shown in bisshup, shipe, shufe (our shove), shrifte, fishes. The w, which replaced g in so many words, is creeping up from the South; we see owen, bruw buw, for agen, breg, and boga. Such forms occur as sined (peccavit), gres (gramen), eke (etiam), fewe, sori, breðren, reu (pœnitet). In this last word we now transpose the vowels. We here see the old Frigedœg, geoguð, genemned, pyndan, cneowian, ceaca, gedriged, draf, brœc, leger, turned into Fridai, ʓieuð, nemmed, pen, cnewl, cheke, dride, drof, brac, leire (lair). The prefix to the Past Participle often disappears, a sure token of Norse influence; as is also the aren (sunt) and heðen (hinc), found in these Homilies. At page 25, we get a bit of Old English philology: God is called Father, we are there told, for two things; ‘on his for þo þe he . . . feide (joined) þe lemes to ure licame . . . oðer is þat he fet (feeds) alle þing.’ The fact that a new French sound ch often replaced the old hard English sound c, has enriched our tongue with two sets of words; thus we have the two distinct verbs, wake and watch, both springing from the old wœcan. But in 1180 their use was most unsettled; at page 161 we hear that the Devil weccheð (awaketh) evil.
There are many new expressions in these Homilies; such as anon,[1] welnehg (wellnigh), for þe nones (instead of for þan ænes, page 87), raþer (in the sense of potius, not citius, page 213), a Godes name, alse þeih (quasi); mast mannen (maxima pars hominum); shewe em, page 57. At
- ↑ The old on án only meant continuously.
