Page:The Sources of Standard English.djvu/319

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290
The Sources of Standard English.

Northern Psalter.[1] He speaks of twyse and thryse, but has unluckily the corrupt once instead of ones. Fadir and modir now become father and mother. We see almost the moment of their change, when we find in Tyndale's New Testament the three forms hidder, hyd­ther, and hetherto; we also find gadther. Against and amongst appear with their last consonant, which they were never to lose. We have both the old coude (potui) and also the corruption into coulde from a false analogy; there is the good old Teutonic rightewes and also the new Latinized righteous: pity it was that Tyndale had no share in Leland's knowledge of Old English. The upstart kill comes as often as slay. Pecock's ʓou silf is corrupted into youre selves, as if self was a substantive. The symle (semper) of 1000, and the ever of 1380, now become all wayes. We find some old forms almost for the last time, as, do on hym a garment, anhongred, hedling, unethe, he leugh (risit). There are some forms which seem to be relics of the writer's native Gloucestershire: honde[2] (manus), awne (proprius), axe (rogare), moo­are (plus), lawears (juris periti), visicion (medicus). Tyndale sometimes goes much nearer to the Old English of the year 1000 than Wickliffe does; thus geve replaces yeve; he has one loofe instead of o loof; feawe, not fewe; brydegrome, not spouse; lende, not ʓyve borwynge; lett the deed bury, not suffre that deede men burie; in the middes, not in the middil. Tyndale brought in some

  1. See p. 145 of the present work.
  2. This is the form taken by the word in old Worcester charters drawn up seven hundred years before Tyndale wrote.