# The Sources of Standard English/Contents

CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
English in its earliest shape.
| A.D. | | page |
| | The Aryan Clan on the Oxus | 1 |
| | Their way of life | 2 |
| | Words common to Sanscrit and English | 3, 4 |
| | Aryan Suffixes kept by us | 5 |
| | The origin of ward and like | 6 |
| | Aryan Comparatives and Superlatives | 7 |
| | The Aryan Verb - Strong Perfects | 8 |
| | The Participle, Strong and Weak | 9 |
| | Aryan Irregular Verbs | 10 |
| | Our forms akin to Latin and Greek | 11 |
| | Our forms akin to Lithuanian | 12 |
| | The Three divisions of Teutons | 13 |
| | Inflections of their Substantive and Verb | 14 |
| | Teutonic Endings of Nouns | 15 |
| | Weak Perfects - Inroads on the Celts | 16 |
| | The Teutons attack the Latins | 17 |
| 450. | The Beowulf, an English Epic | 18 |
| | The English seize Britain | 19 |
| 600. | They are Christianized | 20 |
| | Old English Substantives | 21 |
| | Old English Adjectives | 22 |
| | page |
| Old English Pronouns | 23 |
| Old English Verbs | 24 |
| Letters cast out or put in | 25 |
| Exchange of letters | 26 |
| Prepositions still used in the old way | 27 |
| The use of man - English Negation | 28 |
| The Verb - The Article | 29 |
| The Verb do prefixed to other Verbs | 30 |
| Adverbial Idioms | 31 |
| Corruption of words - Loss of Accents | 32 |
| Alliterative Poetry | 33 |
| It still keeps its hold on us | 34 |
CHAPTER II.
the old english, 680-1120.
the middle english, 1120-1300.
| | Northumbrian English | 35 |
| 680. | Cadmon's Runes on the Ruthwell Cross | 36 |
| 737. | Another piece of Cadmon's | 37 |
| 800. | The Northern Psalter | 38 |
| | Its peculiarities | 39 |
| 876. | The Norse Settlement in England | 40 |
| | Its abiding influence | 41 |
| 900. | The Rushworth Gospels | 42 |
| | Southern and Northern English contrasted | 43 |
| 924. | King Edward's Conquests | 44 |
| 941. | The Five Danish Burghs | 45 |
| 954. | Eadred becomes the One King of England | 46 |
| | The Danish influence on New English | 47 |
| 970. | The Lindisfarne Gospels | 48 |
| | Southern and Northern English contrasted | 49 |
| | Norse corruptions | 50 |
| 1066. | The French Conquest | 51 |
| 1090. | The Legend of St. Edmund | 52 |
| A.D. | | page |
| | Corruptions in the Saxon Chronicle | 53 |
| | Slow change from Old to New | 54 |
| | Interest attached to Peterborough | 55 |
| 1120. | Its Forged Charters | 56 |
| | The letters h and g replaced | 57 |
| | The Dative replaces the Accusative | 58 |
| | Break-up of Case-endings | 59 |
| | New use of Prepositions | 60 |
| | Clipping of Infinitives and Participles | 61 |
| | The Northern, Midland, and Southern Shibboleths | 62 |
| | New Teutonic words crop up | 63 |
| | Scandinavian words come in | 64 |
| 1120. | Specimen of East Midland Dialect | 65, 66 |
| 1120. | Specimen of Southern Dialect | 67 |
| | A later Version of Ælfric's Homilies | 68 |
| | O and ch replace a and c | 69 |
| | New Relatives - The letter ʓ | 70 |
| | Lines on the Grave | 71 |
| 1160. | The Peterborough Chronicle | 72 |
| | Southern corruptions appear | 73 |
| | K, qu, and gh are found | 74 |
| 1160. | Specimen of East Midland Dialect | 75, 76 |
| 1160. | Specimen of Southern Dialect | 77, 78 |
| | Early Rimes - The Sound au | 79 |
| | V and w replace f and g | 80 |
| | Sh replaces sc | 81 |
| | Change in Nouns and Verbs | 82 |
| | Change in Meaning of Words | 83 |
| 1170. | The Moral Ode - The Worcester Manuscript | 84 |
| | Ou replaces o - The new besiden | 85 |
| | The Hatton Gospels | 86 |
| 1180. | The Essex Homilies - The form ie | 87 |
| | Clipping of Words - New phrases | 88 |
| | The Masculine and Neuter Article confused | 89 |
| | New Norse words | 90 |
| 1200. | King Alfred's Proverbs | 91 |
| | Orrmin | 92 |
| A.D. | | page |
| | His Norse origin | 93 |
| | His probable abode | 94 |
| | His many corruptions | 95 |
| | His new Pronouns | 96 |
| | His Norse words, kept by us | 97 |
| | His Prepositional compounds | 98 |
| | He uses that for thilk | 99 |
| | Theirs, what man, thyself | 100 |
| | Forthwith, right, or, alone, same | 101 |
| | He replaces œ by a | 102 |
| | Change in the meaning of words | 103 |
| | The Norse auxiliary mun | 104 |
| | Strong Verbs corrupted into Weak | 105 |
| | Hid, sicken, shown | 106 |
| | Mid and niman die out | 107 |
| 1200. | Specimen of East Midland Dialect | 108, 109 |
| 1205. | Specimen of Western Dialect | 110 |
| | Layamon's Brut | 111 |
| | He is the last to use œ | 112 |
| | The Corrupt Participle in ing | 113 |
| | His Norse Words | 114 |
| | The Legend of St. Margaret | 115 |
| | The letters ea - The ending ful | 116 |
| 1220. | The Hali Meidenhad | 117 |
| | The Ancren Riwle | 118 |
| | The use of one for man | 119 |
| | The New Relative | 120 |
| | The Superlative replaced by most | 121 |
| | New Norse words | 122 |
| | New Low German words | 123 |
| | Salopian works | 124 |
| 1230. | The Bestiary | 125 |
| | Ou replaces u; one | 126 |
| | The Genesis and Exodus | 127 |
| | Drag, dray, draw - The i and oo | 128 |
| | Clipping of words in East Anglia | 129 |
| | Whilum, seldum, muste, these | 130 |
| A.D. | | page |
| | New Norse words | 131 |
| 1230. | Specimen of East Midland Dialect | 132 |
| 1230. | Specimen of Southern Dialect | 134, 135 |
| 1240. | The Lincolnshire Creed | 136 |
| | Interchange of f and g | 137 |
| 1240. | Specimen of East Midland Dialect | 138, 139 |
| 1240. | Specimen of South Western Dialect | 140 |
| | The Owl and the Nightingale | 141 |
| 1250. | Mercian Religious pieces | 142 |
| 1250. | Specimen of East Midland Dialect | 143, 144 |
| 1250. | Specimen of Northern Dialect | 145 |
| | The Yorkshire Psalter | 146 |
| | Gh replaces h | 147 |
| | Brake, feet, gives | 148 |
| | The New Relatives - Those | 149 |
| | New Substantives | 150 |
| | Through hap, gainsay | 151 |
| | New Norse words | 152 |
| | New Version of Layamon's Brut | 153 |
| | The Jesus Manuscript | 154 |
| 1270. | Huntingdon (?) Poem | 155 |
| 1270. | Specimen of East Midland Dialect | 156 |
| 1270. | Specimen of Southern Dialect | 157 |
| | The Proverbs of Hending | 158 |
| | The Sir Tristrem | 159 |
| | The new sense of bond | 160 |
| | New Norse words | 161 |
| 1280. | The Harrowing of Hell | 162 |
| | The curious dialogue | 163 |
| | The Strong Perfect corrupted | 164 |
| | The Havelok | 165 |
| | Northern and Southern forms meet | 166 |
| | You used for thou | 167 |
| | The mangling of drake; lark | 168 |
| | New Norse words | 169 |
| | Loss of old Prepositions | 170 |
| 1280. | Specimen of East Midland Dialect | 171, 172 |
| A.D. | | page |
| 1280. | Specimen of Southern Dialect | 173 |
| | The King Horn. | 174 |
| 1290. | Kentish Sermons | 175 |
| 1300. | Robert of Gloucester's Chronicle | 176 |
| | His Life of Becket | 177 |
| | His Life of St. Brandan | 178 |
| | The Romance of Alexander | 179 |
| | The New English, where compounded | 180 |
| 1300. | Few new Teutonic idioms since this date | 181 |
CHAPTER III.
the rise of the new english.
A.D. 1303.
| | Robert of Brunne in Lincolnshire | 182 |
| 1303. | His Work, The Handlyng Synne | 183 |
| | His dialect, partly Southern | 184 |
| | Partly Western, partly Northern | 185 |
| | Went, second, right, full, down | 186 |
| | Kind, mind, truth, buck | 187 |
| | Adder, one after an Adjective | 188 |
| | Wholly, lost, to be blamed | 189 |
| | Sack, toy, cannot | 190 |
| | New words - St. Audre | 191 |
| | Yon, what time, the which | 192 |
| | Somebody, once, inasmuch | 193 |
| | Would God, Lord, side by side | 194 |
| | He asks pardon for his diction | 195 |
| | His tale of Bishop Robert | 196 |
| | His account of Charity | 197 |
| | Taken from St. Paul | 198 |
| | His advice about Mass | 199 |
| | His tale of the Norfolk Bondeman | 200 |
| | His account of himself | 201 |
| | Specimens of Dialects - North Lincolnshire | 202 |
| | page |
| Yorkshire - Durham | 203 |
| Lancashire | 204 |
| Salop - Herefordshire | 205 |
| Gloucestershire - Irish Pale | 206 |
| Somersetshire | 207 |
| Oxfordshire - Kent | 208 |
| Middlesex | 209 |
| Bedfordshire | 210 |
| Tables - Words akin to Dutch and German | 211 |
| Scandinavian words of the Fourteenth Century | 212 |
| Celtic words - Dutch words | 213 |
| Scandinavian words of the Fifteenth Century | 214 |
CHAPTER IV.
the inroad of french words into england.
| | Harm done in the Thirteenth Century | 215 |
| 1066. | English Poetic words die out | 216 |
| | French alone is in favour | 217 |
| 1160. | How French words first came in | 218 |
| | Forty of them in use very early | 219 |
| | Proper names spelt in French | 220 |
| 1220. | The Ancren Riwle abounds in French | 221 |
| | The foreign sound oi | 222 |
| | Words of Religion - The foreign j | 223 |
| | Table of French words akin to English | 224 |
| | English words drop in the Thirteenth Century | 225 |
| | This fact explained | 226 |
| | The Franciscans in England | 227 |
| 1250. | Their daily work | 228 |
| | They bring in French words | 229 |
| | The 'Luve Ron' of a friar | 230 |
| | Poem by one of the Old School | 231 |
| 1290. | The Kentish Sermons | 232 |
| | Treatise on Science | 233 |
| 1300. | Coarse English Words cast aside | 234 |
| A.D. | | page |
| | French used by Architects | 235 |
| | French used by Ladies | 236 |
| | Warlike Romances Englished | 237 |
| | Our French words for soldiering | 238 |
| | French employed by lawyers | 239 |
| | The number of new French words | 240 |
| | These take English endings | 241 |
| | French words used by the lowest | 242 |
| 1303. | French brought in by Robert of Brunne | 243 |
| | Jolly, party, divers, nice | 244 |
| | Touch, trail, single, afraid | 245 |
| | Certain, passing, bondage | 246 |
| | English roots take French endings | 247 |
| | The decay of Teutonic words arrested | 248 |
| | Corruption of the Franciscan Order | 249 |
| 1360. | Robert's words need explanation | 250 |
| | Gradual loss of Old English Words | 251 |
| | Table of Words, Obsolete and Romance | 252 |
CHAPTER V.
the new english.
a.d. 1303-1873.
| | English differs from other Literatures | 253 |
| | Each shire had its own speech | 254 |
| | Norse influence in England | 255 |
| 1303. | The East Midland advances Southwards | 256 |
| | Contrast between it and the London speech | 257 |
| | Edward I. neglected English | 258 |
| | The New Standard English spreads | 259 |
| 1349. | Edward III. favours it | 260 |
| | New Forms of old words | 261 |
| | Poem on the Carpenter's Tools | 262 |
| 1356. | Mandeville's writings | 263 |
| | Nassington at Cambridge | 264 |
| A.D. | | page |
| 1380. | Wickliffe's version of the Bible | 265 |
| | Young one, wast, shipwreck, haply | 266 |
| | His Latin idioms bad | 267 |
| | Purvey and Hereford | 268 |
| | New forms used at this time | 269 |
| 1400. | Creed and Prayers | 270 |
| 1408. | Forms of Matrimony | 271 |
| 1450. | Lollard Tract on Scriptural translation | 272 |
| | The Speech of the Court | 273 |
| 1390. | Chaucer's new forms | 274 |
| | Belike, bi and bi, scarcely, menes | 275 |
| 1432. | Letters written by knights - Warwick | 276 |
| | Suffolk's letter to his son | 277 |
| 1447. | East Anglian Letters - Shillingford | 278 |
| 1450. | Pecock's Repressor | 279 |
| | The Word unless - Good Prose | 280 |
| 1460. | Yorkshire letters of the time | 281 |
| 1426. | Audlay in Salop | 282 |
| 1454. | York's children at Ludlow | 283 |
| 1471. | Caxton prints the First English Book | 284 |
| | He restores the hard g | 285 |
| 1481. | His Renard the Fox | 286 |
| 1482. | He alters Trevisa's words | 287 |
| 1523. | Lord Berners - Tyndale | 288 |
| 1525. | Corruptions in his Testament | 289 |
| | Once, father, coulde, righteous | 290 |
| | Abroad, waves, sad, roll | 291 |
| | Tyndale's sound Teutonic style | 292 |
| 1542. | His version disliked by Gardiner | 293 |
| | His wrangles with More | 294 |
| 1528. | His critical power - Roy's rimes | 295 |
| 1536. | Plumpton's letter home | 296 |
| | English Poetry becomes more Teutonic | 297 |
| 1524. | Abbot Malvern's verses | 298 |
| | Theology, the Classics, Travels | 299 |
| 1560. | Cranmer's Prayer Book | 300 |
| | Latin and Teutonic in our Bible | 301 |
| A.D. | | page |
| 1583. | Fulke's scorn of the Douay Bible | 302 |
| 1611. | Influence of our Version | 303 |
| | Romanism adverse to our Literature | 304 |
| | The Reformation unites England and Scotland | 305 |
| | The Bible a bond for the Angel cyn | 306 |
| 1550. | Wilson's criticism - Shakespere | 307 |
| 1590. | Spenser - Our Golden Age | 308 |
| | The form its - Loss of Old Forms | 309 |
| 1640. | Strafford's Thorough - Milton | 310 |
| | His Lycidas - Bunyan | 311 |
| 1650. | The Change in English Prose | 312 |
| 1750. | Johnson's Corruptions | 313 |
| | The Study of Sanscrit | 314 |
| 1810. | Scott, Byron, Coleridge | 315 |
| 1820. | Scott's Romances - The Ballad revived | 316 |
| 1830. | Cobbett - Monk's Life of Bentley | 317 |
| 1870. | Speeches of Mr. Gladstone and Mr. Bright | 318 |
| 1873. | Mr. Tennyson, Mr. Morris | 319 |
| | Table of Dates bearing on English Literature | 320, 321 |
CHAPTER VI.
good and bad english in 1873.
| Scholars and the Middle Class | 322 |
| The Latter love Foreign phrases | 323 |
| How a man writes to The Times | 324 |
| Latin is too often a pitfall | 325 |
| The Penny-a-liner of our day | 326 |
| Blunder of Irish Prelates | 327 |
| Correspondents of Journals | 328 |
| Editors should put down bad English | 329 |
| Americans misspell honour | 330 |
| Fine writing in America | 331 |
| To interview | 332 |
| English abuse of the letter h | 333 |
| Bad style of English preachers | 334 |
| | page |
| English not taught at schools | 335 |
| Good influence of the Classics | 336 |
| Punch a good English critic | 337 |
| We borrow from all sides | 338 |
| We send our own staple abroad | 339 |
| Bad English of a Queen's Speech | 340 |
| Watchwords of English History | 341 |
| Simplicity recommended by Mr. Freeman | 342 |
| We have improved on our fathers | 343 |
| Three ways of writing English | 344 |
| Teutonic, Romance, and Penny-a-lining | 345 |
| Parable of a maiden's dress | 346 |
| Sometimes neat, sometimes outrageous | 347 |
| Chaucer's advice to fine writers | 348 |
CHAPTER VII.
twelve hundred years of english.
| 680. | Lines on the Ruthwell Cross | 349 |
| 737. | Lines by Cadmon | 350 |
| 800-900. | Northumbrian Psalter - Rushworth Gospels | 351 |
| 970. | Lindisfarne Gospels | 352 |
| 1090. | St. Edmund's Legend | 353, 354 |
| 1220. | The Ancren Riwle | 355, 356, 357 |
| 1356. | Sir John Mandeville | 358, 359 |
| 1450. | Bishop Pecock | 360 |
| 1550. | Lever | 361, 362 |
| 1668. | Cowley | 363, 364 |
| 1776. | Gibbon | 365, 366 |
| 1872. | Morris | 367, 368 |
| | Advice as to Studying English | 369 |
| | Antiquam exquirite Matrem | 370 |
Erratum.
| Page 262, lines 5, 6, 7, dele The form graciouser | ending in ous. |