Page:The Journal of English and Germanic Philology Volume 18.djvu/262

 256 Klaeber B 6.228) in the third division of this paper. 14 This verb aweordan is, of course, quite distinct in use from aweorfian 'perish/ 'be spoiled,' as found in gyf pcet sealt awyrfi, Mat. 5.13, Lind.: forworfies ( = quodsi sal evanuerit) ; 15 cf . the causative awyrdan. But it is entirely reasonable to believe that merely two different lines of the semantic development of a- (*uz-} are represented by the two identical compound verbs. For the extensive use of Middle English ^ewurde(n) (iwur- 2te(W)), by the side of wurde(n), Matzner's Dictionary may be consulted. In Old Low Franconian one example of gewerthan is pre- served, Ps. 71.19: gewerthe, gewerthe = Hat, fiat. In Middle Dutch gewerden (geworden, etc.) is quite common. See Verwijs-Verdam, Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, Vol. II. To cite one characteristic specimen: (Het lichaam) wert der wormen spise. . ., sick, daertoe saltu ghewaerden, Tien PL 2466. 16 According to Verdam, the verb is still retained in West Flemish: gewerden, geweerden. In Old Saxon the line of division between werfian and giwerffan is much more clearly drawn than in Old English. The Heliand knows giwer Van only in the sense of 'happen,' 'come to pass,' 'befall' (nearly always in impersonal use). 17 In one passage, 1. 5814 (Cotton. MS.), Heyne, in defiance of the regular practice of the text, emends wurfiun to giwurfiun : 14 It must be admitted that the ME. aworthe could be explained as a mere by-form of iworthe (cf. aware from OE. geivcer) or, in fact, as the result of the well-known loose handling of prefixes. Cf., e.g., P. Plowm. 11.163 yworthe, Var. worty; 1.201 worthe, Var. ywor}>e; 11.84 aspare, Var. spare; 12.152 appeir- ede, Var. yperede; 12.63 ywar, Varr. iwar, awar, war. (Also Twelfth Century Homilies ed. Belfour, 52.10 forVwitene corrected to forfiaivitene, 116.32 fordi- witene; 104.20 awag awdt.) 15 The curious combination, Lind. Mat. 26.52: ford awor'8a'd=penbunt (WS. : forwurlpad, Rush. : forweortyad) could be interpreted as either =for $ geworfiafi (so Toller) oi=awor'da'S 'will perish* with adverb ford added for emphasis. Perhaps there was a crossing of two ideas in the glossator's mind, the form awordaV (=peribunt) calling up the other verb aweor l 8an=geweordan. 18 Cf. Crist 624: to tare ilcan [scil. eordan] scealt eft geweor>an / wyrmum aweallen. 17 Even in this sense, werdan occurs, as: werde mi aftar thinun wordun 286; werda thin willeo obar thesa werold alia, / so sama an erfio, 1606.