8/2/2019 Philology 1 - Middle English Grammar

1/4

Middle English Grammar

Peter Hofstee 2011

CASESNominative: Subject; Complement (He is a man).

Accusative: Direct object.Genitive: Possessive.Dative: Indirect object (She gave a cookie to him).

PERSONAL PRONOUNS

First-person pronouns Second-person pronouns1

singular plural singular (inf.) plural (formal)

nom. I (I) we (we) thou/thow (you)2 ye (you)

acc. me (me) us (us) thee (you) you/yow (you)

gen. my (my) our (our) thyn (your) your (your)

dat. me (me) us (us) thee (you) you/yow (you)

Third-per on pronouns

masculine neuter feminine plural

nom. he (he) it, hit (it) she (she) they (they)

acc. hym, him (him) it, hit (it) hir, hyr (her) hem (them)

gen. his (his) his (its) hir (her) hir (their)

dat. hym, him (him) it, hit (it) hir, hyr (her) hem (them)

__________1 The sg. forms were used to indicate formality and distance, while the pl. forms expressed a

degree of formality, distance and politeness. Note that God was also addressed informally withthou.

2 Also occur in contracted forms, e.g.: artow (art thou/thou art), canstow (can you/you can).

1

8/2/2019 Philology 1 - Middle English Grammar

2/4

NOUNS

singular plural

nom. / acc. stoon stoones

gen. stoones stoones

dat. stoon stoones

Variant plural forms also include:

: yeris, wyvys.

if the word ends in : tirauntz, instrumentz.

, derived om the OE weak noun declension: children, oxen.

ADJECTIVES

(Descended om OE; the table below applies to singular monosyllabic adjectives.)

Weak (ending with -e) Strong

If preceded by a definite article (the). If preceded by an indefinite article (a, an).

If preceded by a demonstrative. All other instances.

If preceded by a possessive pronoun.

If preceded by a proper noun in gen. case (e.g.

Goddes owene son)

If preceded by an adjective in vocative case (cf.Latin, used for exclamations): O deerehousbonde!

OPEN AND CLOSE VOWELS

Long o:

Close /o:/

In PDE pronounced with /u/ (good), /u:/ (foot), or // (other). Open /:/ A diphthong in PDE. Or, sometimes the PDE spelling is .

Long e:

Close /e:/ In PDE the spelling is or .

Open /:/ In PDE the spelling is .

Silent e: riche plus h or vowel the e is dropped.

2

8/2/2019 Philology 1 - Middle English Grammar

3/4

VERBS

VERB MOODS: Indicative, subjunctive (expressing a possibility or desire) and imperative.WEAK VERBS: Preterite is formed by adding .STRONG VERBS: Preterite is formed by change of stem vowel (as in PDE bind/bound).

Present forms Preterite (past) forms Subjunctive forms

WEAK STRONG PRESENT PRETERITE

sg. loue (love) louede bounde loue binde louede

louest(love) louedest bounde loue binde louede

loueth* (loves) louede bounde loue binde louede

pl. loue(n) (love) louede(n) bounde(n) loue(n) binde(n) louede(n)

* Third p. sg. variation: rideth, rit; sitteth, sit, writeth, writ; byndeth, bynt.

Participle formsPresent participle: louyng, bindyngWeak past participle: louedeStrong past participle: bounde

The irregular verb beINDICATIV SUBJUNCTI E PARTICIPLES IMPERATIVE

present preterite present preterite present past be

sg. am was be were beyng been

art were be were

is was be were

pl. be

ar

were are were beth

Verb phrases, auxiliaries, etc.myghte might, but usually means could.gan + infinitive: gan is used as an auxiliary, indicating past tense (e.g. gan wype = wiped)shal: only translated with shall if used with I.shulan & willan: mostly full verbs in ME.kunnan = know how

3

8/2/2019 Philology 1 - Middle English Grammar

4/4

COUNCTIONS

al although, even if and, and if if als, al so asbut, but if if, unlesseek/eke alsofor, for that because

forthy thereforeforwhy becausefor to in order toor or either orother, outher orsin/syn since

sithe sincether(as) wherewher whether; also used to

introduce a question

DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS

that (that)tho (those, then)this (this)

thise/these (these)ilke/thilke (the same/that,this)

yon (yonder)

FREQUENTLY USED WORDS

again back3

al be that althoughanon at oncebenedicte bless usbut, but if unlesscan, kan know (how to), be ableclepe callech eacheek, eke also

ful veryhan havehem themhem lost/liste they wantedhight named, calledilke samekoude knew (how to), couldmaugre in spite ofnamely especially, specificallynat notne not, nornoght nought, nothing; notnones, nonys occasionnyce foolish

o, (that) on onepardee by God; certainlyrede advise, interpret, readright (adv.) just, quitesith since, thensomdel somewhatswich suchsyn sincetask: taketh take

than(ne) then, thanther, ther as wherethoughte (imp.) it seemedthynketh (imp.) it seemswar aware (beth war)a ware yow beware, take heedwher where, whetherwhere as wherewhylom once (upon a time),

formerly yaf gave ycleped named ydo done

Negated verbsnam am notnas was notnere were notniste did not know

nolde would notnoot know notnys is notnyste knew not

__________3 Context-dependent, e.g. with a verb of movement.

4