11. Final -e. As the manuscripts of the Canterbury Tales are not always grammatically correct, an attention to the final e is of great importance. The following remarks will enable the reader to understand when and why it is employed. а. In nouns and adjectives (of A. S. origin) the final e represents one of the final vowels a, u, e; as asse, bane, cuppe = A. S. assa, bana, cuppa; herte, mare=A. S. beorte, mare; hale, care, wode A. S. bealu, caru, wudu; dere, drye=A. S. deore, dryge, &c. = b. The final e (unaccented) in words of French origin is sounded as in French verse (but it is also frequently silent); as 'Who spryngeth up for joyë but Arcite.' (Knightes Tale, 1. 1013.) Ne wette hire fingres in hire saucë depe.' (Prol. 1. 129.) c. Final -e is a remnant of various grammatical inflexions:— (1) It is a sign of the dative case in nouns; as roote, breethe, beethe (Prol. ll. 2, 5, 6). ƒ is often changed into v (written u in the MSS.) before e, as nom. wif, lif; dat. wive, live. bedde, brigge (bridge), &c., are the datives of bed, brig, &c. (2) In adjectives it marks (a) The definite form of the adjective; as 'the yongë sonne' (Prol. 1. 7). (b) The plural of adjectives; as 'smalë fowles' (Prol. 1. 9). (c) The vocative case of adjectives; as 'O strongë god' (Knightes Tale, 1. 1515). (3) In verbs the final -e is a sign (a) Of the infinitive mood; as, to seekë, tellë (Prol. ll. 17, 38). (b) Of the gerundial infinitive. See Infinitive Mood, p. xxxix. See Prol. l. 134. (c) of the past participles of strong verbs; as ironnë, ifallë (Prol. 11. 8, 25); dronkë, brokë (Knightes Tale, ll. 404, 406, 877). (d) Of the past tense (attached to -ed, -d, or -t). See p. xlv. (e) Of the subjunctive and optative moods. See Prol. 11. 102, 770. (ƒ) of the imperative mood 3rd person (properly the 3rd person of the subjunctive mood). See Subjunctive Mood, p. xxxix. (4) In adverbs the e is very common: (a) It represents an older vowel-ending; as sone (soon), tavie, thrie. (b) It distinguishes adverbs from adjectives; as fairë, rightë=fairly, rightly. (c) It represents an -en; as aboutë, abovë abouten, aboven = A. S. abutan, abufan. (d) -e is a distinct syllable in adverbs ending in ëly; as lustely, needely, seemely, trewëly. On the other hand, the final e is often silent 1. In the personal pronouns; as oure, youre, hire, here. 2. In many words of more than one syllable, and in words of Romance origin. It is elided 1. Before a word commencing with a vowel: For I mot wepe and weyle whil I lyve.' (Knightes Tale, 1. 437. And in the grove at tyme and place iset.' (Ib. 1. 777.) 2. Often before some few words beginning with b; as he, his, him, hem, hire, hath, hadde, have, how, her, heer: Wel cowde he dresse his takel yemanly.' (Prol. 1. 106.) Then wolde he wepe he myghtë nought be stent.' (Knightes Tale, 1. 510.) That in that grove he wolde him hyde al day.' (Ib. 1.623.) In all other cases b is regarded as a consonant; as 'to fernë halwes' (Prol. 1. 14); ‘of smalë houndes' (Ibid. l. 146); 'the fairë hardy quen' (Knightes Tale, l. 24). The following metrical analysis of the opening lines of the Prologue will enable the reader to apply the rules already given. The mark ˇ represents an unaccented, and ̄ an accented syllable. • Whăn thât | Ăprille with | his schōw | res swoōte The drought of Marche | hath për | ced to the roote, The holy blis | fül már | tir för | to seēke, That hem hath hōlp | ĕn whan | that they | wĕre seēke.' 1. The final e in Aprille, melodie, is sounded; but is silent in Marche, veyne, vertue, nature; because in these cases it is followed by a word commencing with a vowel or with the letter b. 2. The final e in swoote, smale, straunge, ferne, seeke, is sounded, as the sign of the plural number. 3. The final e in roote, breethe, beethe, is sounded, as the sign of the dative case. 4. The final e in sweete, yonge, halfe, is sounded, as the sign of the definite form of the adjective. 5. The final e in sonne, eye, ende, is sounded, and represents the older A. S. vowel-endings. 6. The final e in ironne is sounded, as the sign of the past participle representing the fuller form ironnen. 7. The final e in wende and were is sounded, and represents the fuller form -en of the past tense plural in wenden and weren. 8. The final e in to seeke is sounded, as the sign of the infinitive mood, representing the fuller form to seeken. 9. The final en is sounded in slepen, maken, longen, as the sign of the present plural indicative. 10. The final en is sounded in to seeken, as the sign of the infinitive mood. 11. The final es in schowres, croppes, fowles, halves, strondes, londes, is sounded, as the inflexion of the plural number. 12. The final es is sounded in schires, as the inflexion of the genitive case. 13. Vertue, licour, nature, and corages, are accented on the last syllable of the root, as in French. The text of the present selection from the Canterbury Tales is taken from the well-known MS. Harl. 7334, which, however, is by no means free from clerical errors. It has therefore been revised throughout by a careful collation with the Ellesmere, Hengwrt, and Corpus manuscripts printed in Mr. F. J. Furnivall's Six-Text edition of Chaucer's Canterbury Talesh. The Lansdowne, Petworth, and Cambridge manuscripts in the Six-Text edition have also been consulted in all cases of difficulty, but they have not proved of much service in correcting the blunders of the Harleian manuscript. As the old English character þ (th)i is not uniformly or constantly employed in the Harleian MS., and does not occur at h This work, which is itself a great tribute to the memory of Chaucer, should be in the hands of every Chaucerian scholar. i Some scribes have this rule, in general: p=soft sound, as in þat that; th= hard sound, as in thin; but if þat' begins a line it is written That. Other scribes muddle them up in every manner possible, and even turn þ into y; hence the well-known 'ye,' i. e. þe, for the. d all, the modern form of the letter has been substituted for it. An initial 3 (A. S. g) is represented in the text by 'y'; in all other cases, whether medial or final, by‘gh': but in order that the reader may know where the older character is used, its modern representatives y and gb have been printed in Italics. All verbal and grammatical difficulties in the text are explained in the Notes and Glossary, which, it is hoped, will afford young students all the help that they may require in studying the present selection. I gladly take the present opportunity of thanking my kind friends the Rev. W. W. Skeat and Mr. Furnivall for many valuable notes and suggestions. R. M. KING'S COLLEGE, LONDON, September 1872. i |