the Scotch still say, gies me, instead of give me. New idioms crop up, which would have astonished Alfred or Ælfric: we find full of fiscum for plenus piscium.
The Old English Plural of nouns in an is now changed, and hearta replaces heartan; sad havock is made in all the other cases. The Genitive Singular and Nominative Plural in es swallow up the other forms. Thus we came back to the old Aryan pattern, in all but a few plurals like oxen.[1] Such new-fangled Genitives Singular as sterres, brydgumes, heartes, tunges, fadores, and such Nominative Plurals as stearras, burgas, and culfras, are now found. There is a tendency to confound Definite with Indefinite Adjectives. The Dative Plural in um is sometimes dropped.
In short, we see the foreshadowing of the New English forms. The South, where the Norsemen could never gain a foothold, held fast to the old speech; and many forms of King Alfred's time, now rather corrupted, linger on to this day in Dorset and Somerset; though these shires are not so rich in old words as Lothian is. The North, overrun by the Danes, was losing its inflections not long after King Alfred's death. Even in the South, Norse words were taking root; some are found in Canute's day; and William I., addressing his Londoners in their own tongue, says that he will not allow ‘þæt ænig man eow ænig wrang beode.’ This wrang (malum) comes from the Scandinavian rangr (obliquus); it drove out the Old English woh.
I shall consider elsewhere the effect of the Norman
- ↑ There is a wrong notion abroad that the German Plural in ens is more venerable than the English Plural in es.
