Page:Alexander and Dindimus (Skeat 1878).djvu/34

 scribe himself, which tells us, at any rate, something. I allude to the note mentioned in § 3, which gives us the following hints. The scribe writes fayleþ, lasteþ, in the 3rd person singular of the present tense; turneþ, bygynneþ, but also rede, in the 2nd person plural of the imperative mood; y-wrete and radde appear as past participles of strong verbs; and we have also the phrases ȝe schulle and ȝe han. These indications are not to be disregarded; but point to a southern dialect, or to a midland dialect strongly marked by southern forms. It seems fair to infer that the numerous western forms found in the poem, such as the suffix -us for the present singular or for the imperative plural, are not due to the scribe, but to the original which he had before him; which makes some observations on the form in the poem all the more necessary and useful, as well as trustworthy. The bias of the scribe towards southern forme being ascertained, we can see our way more clearly than we could have done otherwise.

For convenience, I consider the various peculiarities of the text in much the same order as I have done in William of Palerne; the present remarks may therefore be compared to with those in my Preface to that poem, p. xxxviii. For references to the words cited below, see the Glossarial Index.

The plurals of nouns generally end in -us, as wynterus, somerus, holus, answerus, ludus, costomus, &c.; but this ending is also curiously varied to to -uus, as in skiuus, kinguus, weihuus, foliuus; or else to -eus, as in seggeus, dedeus; or even to -ous, as in þouhtous (767), godous (772). In some cases, we find plurals in -ys, as in heuys (hues), cauys (caves), stormys; rarely in -es as in lettres, weies, dedes; very rarely in -is as in holis (57). Other plurals worth notice are oxen (296), hous (434), fon (foes), tren (trees, 853), erene = eren (ears), eldrene, eldren (elders), breþeren, soulen (souls). The pl. of 'fish' appears as fihs, fihcs, fihch, and fihches. The genitive singular also commonly ends in -us, as in godus (315), catelus (370), licamus (555). The genitive plural is found ending in -ene, as in haþelene, briddene, bestene, ludene; cf. wommenus (1016).

As regards adjectives, we find plurals in -e, as meke, pore; and e is commonly added to past participles in the plural, as in clene-mindede, corsede, bannede; though it is also wrongly added to past