French elements in Middle English : chapters illustrative of the origin and growth of romance influence on the phrasal power of standard English in its formative period

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MIDDLE ENGLISH

'.piers mmtmim of the Origm aftd 6. , ,
luflueme on t/w P/tmml Power oj Stamiard
English in Ob FomiaHve Penad

l'Ri:.UERICK HKNRY SYKES, M.A
IE FBtiow m 7m JOHNS iiorib>

FRENCH ELEMENTS IN MIDDLE

ENGLISH

A Dissertation presented to the Board of University
Studies of the Johns Hopkins University, for
the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy

FRENCH ELEMENTS IN
MIDDLE ENGLISH ,

1113'/''

Chapters Illustrative of the Origin and Growth of Romance
Influence on the Phrasal Power of Standard
English in its Formative Period

FREDERICK HENRY SYKES, M.A., Ph.D.

SOMETIME FELLOW OF THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY

J^at we ne be} alle of one }eode,
Ne i-boren in one londe^
Ne one specke vnderstonde.

Robert Grosseteste, Castel of Love,

O;rfor>

HORACE HART, PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITY

1899

I

FRENCH ELEMENTS IN MIDDLE
ENGLISH

CHAPTERS ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE ORIGIN AND
GROWTH OF ROMANCE INFLUENCE ON THE
PHRASAL POWER OF STANDARD ENGLISH IN
ITS FORMATIVE PERIOD

INTRODUCTION

GusTAV KoRTiNG, writing in 1888 ^ expressed very truly — and
his statement still holds — the imperfect nature of our knowledge
of the relations of the French language to the English during the
formative period that preceded the establishment of Standard
English. * Die Frage/ he says, * nach der Art und dem Umfange
des von dem Franzosischen auf das Angelsachsische ausgetibten
Einflusses ist weit verwickelter, als es auf den ersten Blick scheinen
mag, und zur Zeit wenigstens diirfte sie mit irgend welcher
wissenschaftlichen Genauigkeit gar nicht zu beantworten sein/
Certain phases of the subject, it must be admitted, have been treated
with scientific exactness. In the sphere of phonology we have the
exposition of the phonology of thei French elements in MidE. in the
treatises of Sturmfels' and Behrens', to mention only the most
important. But on a subject closely allied with the phonology
of loan-words in English, the influence of French upon the
phonology of native words, we lack a definitive treatment. That
this influence operated in word-stress is certain. Note, too, for
example, that AS. nemnan appears in MidE. not only as nemnen, but

* * Encyklopaedie und Methodologie der Englischen Philologie,' p. 74.
Heilbronn, 1888.

' * Der Altfranz. Vokallsmiis im Mittelengl. bis znm Jahre 1400.* Anglia^
viii. 201 ff.

* * Beitrage zur Geschichte der Franzosischen Sprache in England.' Franz.
StudieUf V. ii.

A 2

4

FRENCH ELEMENTS IN MIDDLE ENGLISH

nempnen : theos meiden . . . wes iuliane inempnet,/«/., 4 ; theochinus
inempnet, St, Mark,, i. Seth he let his name nempne, Holy Rode
(Ashm.), 29. Similarly AS. samman appears not only as samn({)en,
but also sampnen\ sompnin, Marh,y 15 (S-B); Wold he so sone
sampne his host, R. B., Chron,, 4978. The abundant instances of
m p n in similar position in OFr. point to the source of this conso-
nantal group ; cf. dampner ( < damnare), dampne-dee { < domtne-deus),
solempne {<solemnem). The character and extent of such influence,
then, call for definition. In orthography, while we have the rough
outline of the making over of our orthography in conformity with
French orthography, and have many interesting details afforded
us \ we are again without full and precise account of the process
and its subsequent effects, though the history of words like corpse
{e,g, OFr. cors > MidE. cors) Fr. corps > E. corps{e) ) makes one
suspect the prevalence of a somewhat extensive influence. The
problem of the introduction of French words into MidE. has received
most attention ; witness the word-lists of Morris ^ W. W. Skeat,
Miss Skeat Behrens, and Sturmfels, and, for individual works, of
Einenkel*, Fritzsche', and others. But, while we have the lists of
words, we have no systematic study of the semasiology of those
words. Were the fine discriminations of the foreign language
preserved ? If so, what a testimony to the intimacy of the English
speaker with the language drawn upon I If, for example, the MidE.
air in its various uses and shades of meaning closely corresponds
to OFr. air in its uses and shades of meaning — which indeed
it does — and if this conformity in meaning and use is sustained by
a similar correspondence among the loan-words generally, we have
a revelation of the subtle and far-reaching interfusion of the French
and English spirit in the MidE. period. Again, how far can the
French words taken into MidE. be regarded as essential to the
expression of new ideas and manners consequent on a new order
of civilization"? At times they were essential; witness the OFr.

* Cf. Skeat, * Principles of English Etymology,' i. 302 ff.

^ * Historical Outlines of English Accidence,' Append. Ill,

' * Word-list illustrating the correspondence of Mod. Eng. with Anglo-French

Vowel Sounds,' Dialect Soc, 1884 ; Tr. Phil, Sac,, Append. IV. 1884 (also

W. W. Skeat, Phil. Soc, 1882, 1888-90).

* *Ueber die Verfasser einiger neaangelsachsischen Schriften,* 48, 49, 93;
Angliay v. 91 £F.

* Anglia, v. 82.

* Paul, * Grundriss der germanischen Philologie,* i. 8ia.

INTRODUCTION

5

titles of address which we adopted. Again, to what extent did
the foreign vocabulary change or restrict the meaning of native
words? Here, indeed, was a wide realm of change. Take, as
examples, AS. pingy as influenced by cause, affaire ^ mati^re\ AS.
^um as restricted in part by certain ; AS. prician, priccan^ to prick,
as compared with its meaning in, ' Of pricking and of hunting
for the hare,' Ch., ProL C. T'., 191, manifestly imitatino; OFr.
poindre, prick, gallop, put spurs to: Mais Aiols point, Aioly 3103
De quel maniere a els puindrunt, M. de France, Eli.^ 207.

Nor can any one yet adequately define the part French played
in the rapid changes that came upon AS. in the years immediately
following the Conquest with respect to the loss or retention of in-
flexions and the settlement of grammatical relations and of the word
order in phrase and sentence. We still quarrel over elementary
questions like s-plurals\ Something of course has been gained
by special monographs in the realm of syntax : the influence of
the French present participle absolute on the corresponding form
in MidE.*; the influence of French on the MidE. relative *J>e
which &c. Matzner, in his ' Englische Grammatik,' naturally
noted the correspondences of OFr. and MidE. especially in the
case of grammatical similarities such as the government of verbs.
Einenkel*, too, shows a very keen sense for the recognition of
French influence in MidE. syntax. Unfortunately his volume has
special reference to the language of Chaucer. Dealing chiefly
with the language at a time when most of its characteristics had
passed their stage of growth and had become fixed in nature,
Einenkel was not concerned with the historical view of his subject
and offers us little beyond interesting examples and parallels.
Of greater importance is his review of MidE. syntax which,
though limited in scope, lays the first foundation of scientific
knowledge in the department of which it treats. Kellner*, likewise,
is advancing and co-ordinating our knowledge of OFr. influence,
and his future work will, without doubt, make important con-
tributions to the history of English syntax.

1 Academy, 1893, Nov. 11, Dec. 9, 30; 1894, Jan. 13, 20, 27, Feb. 3.
■ *The Absolute Participle in Middle and Modern English,' by C. H. Ross.
Baltimore, 1893.

« * Das Altenglische Relativpronomen,' von August Schrader, p. 23. Kiel, 1880.

* 'Streifzuge durch die M.K. Syntax.' Munster, 1887.
" * Paul's Grundriss/ i. 907 ff.

• * Historical Outlines of English Syntax.' London, 1892.

6 FRENCH ELEMENTS IN MIDDLE ENGLISH

Lacking, then, the definitive works in many aspects of the pro-
blem of French influence in MidE., we can easily see how defective
and misleading the books of Thommerel Dickmann &c., are in
professing to give an account of the rise of the English language.
Morsbach's work on the origin of the new English literary lan-
guage ' has a most inviting title and a most disappointing content
Granting that the language of the earliest English documents of
London is in substantial agreement with the language of Chaucer,
when * language * is restricted to a basis of vowels, consonants, and
inflexions, how much further are we towards understanding the
rise of that new English literary language, which was marked not
merely by peculiarities of phonology and morphology, but by
most extensive changes in phraseology, idiom, syntax?

Impossible as it is yet to write the history of the rise of Standard
English, we are at least able to discern the truth in some par-
ticulars of that history. No statement, indeed, concerning French
influence in MidE. could be more false, however generally held,
than that which Korting makes, to go back to the work first
quoted, when he says: * Nur im Wortschatz ist das Englische
halbfranziisisirt, im Uebrigen ist es germanisch geblieben, und wo
es dennoch dem Franzdsischen ahnlich geworden zu sein scheint
(wie z. B. in der Gleichformigkeit der substantivischen Pluralbildung,
in der Comparationsumschreibung, etc.), ist dies nicht die Folge
einer Angleichung an das Franzosische, sondern erklart sich
durchaus befriedigend aus den der Sprache von jeher eigenen
Entwickelungsneigungen ' *.

There is reason to believe that the close and continued influence
of one language on another, either in its colloquial or its literary
form, will always affect the latter in ways more subtle than the
mere borrowing of words. Latin constructions are a factor always
to be considered in every AS. translation from the Latin. Latin
itself borrowed many idioms and constructions from Greek. The
Stanford Dictionary * devoted to the meaning and history of the

^ 'Recherches sur la Fusion da Franco-Normand et de TAnglo-Saxon.*
Paris, 1 841.

' 'A Treatise on the Origin and Development of the English Language/
Gottingen, 1870.

' ' ifeber den Ursprnng der nenenglischen Schriftsprache,' von Dr. Lorenz
Morsbach. Heilbronn, 1888.

* * Encyklopaedie und Methodologie,' p. ;^8 f.

* * The Stanford Dictionary of Anglicised Words and Phrases,* by C. A. M.
Fennell. Cambridge, 1893.

INTRODUCTION

7

foreign words and phrases which occur so frequently in English
literature/ is a vast storehouse of illustrations of the extent to which,
in modern times, English speakers and writers have availed them-
selves of the phrasal resources of other languages. Every reader
of MidE. and OFr. romances must be struck with their most exten-
sive agreements — not merely in the conception of manners and
life, in their general literary form — not in vocabulary alone, but in
more subtle modes of expression, in the idioms used, in the turn of
the phrases employed. The present dissertation aims to show
that Middle English became, not only in its vocabulary, but in its
phrasal forms, * halbfranz5sisch ' ; that its phrasal power is indeed
pre-eminently Romance in character. It follows after those treatises
of the French loan-words in the vocabulary of MidE. which we
owe, as already stated, to Morris, the Skeats, Behrens, Siurmfels,
Einenkel, Fritzsche, and others, seeking to establish a higher
and more subtle romanization of our speech than that of its
vocabulary.

The truth is that Middle English underwent a romanization of
its phrasal power more extensive than, and virtually as early as,
the romanization of its vocabulary. Professor Earle gives us a
wrong point of view in his striking picture of the new English when
he says : * If we want to describe the transition from the Saxon
state-language of the eleventh century to the Court-English of the
fourteenth, ... it comes in fact just to this — That a French family
settled in England, and edited the English language \' It would
be a truer figure to say that the homely English family went to
school to French masters, assimilated the modes of thought and
forms of expression of a new civilization, and then, and by reason
of that assimilated culture, made good its right, even as an English
family, to enter into the literary and social life of the new times.
The object of the present study is to show how, to what extent, and
at what time the English language schooled itself to new phrasal
expressions, which were often without equivalents in AS., but which
sometimes displaced equivalent AS. expressions ; to show how far
those phrasal changes proceeded under the influence of OFr. —
a natural outcome of the relation of English, in its formative
period, to French, in social life, in education, and in legal,
ecclesiastical, military, and literary affairs j to show the chrono-
* ' The Philology of the English Tongue,* p. 96 (5th ed.).

5 FRENCH ELEMENTS IN MIDDLE ENGLISH

logical movement of those phrasal changes so as to establish a
comparison with the movement of change in the vocabulary; to
draw from any ascertained results some conclusions respecting the
character and chronology of the formation of Standard English.

The chapters here published are significant parts of a wider
survey of the field of work; they will be found, it is hoped,
characteristic of various important aspects of phrasal influence, and
sufficiently detailed to warrant the conclusions drawn. The cita-
tions, with but a very few exceptions, are taken from the literature
preceding 1400, by which time Standard English had been evolved
and established. Of the works of reference obligations are acknow-
ledged in especial to Bosworth-Toller, * Anglo-Saxon Dictionary '
(B-T); James A. H. Murray, *New English Dictionary' (ned);
Stratmann-Bradley, * Middle-English Dictionary' (S-B); Gode-
froy, * Dictionnaire de Tancienne langue fran9aise' (God.); La
Curne, *Kctionnaire historique de I'ancienne langue frangaise'
(La C.) ; Littr^, * Dictionnaire de la langue fran9aise ' (L.).

I. VERBAL PHRASES

The change of a language from a synthetic to an analytic base,
necessitating the growth of phrasal forms for inflexions and
conjugations, favours analogically the phrasal expression of verbal
notions ; e. g. miserari, avoir pitt/. MidE. saw a profuse growth
of verbal phrases overrun the language, which at times choked
out the scanty verbal phrases of AS. origin. Two chapters are
here presented illustrative of this phrasal growth in verbal construc-
tions: (i.) AS. beran, MidE. beren; (ii.) AS. niman, MidE. nimen,
taken.

I. Beran, b^cren, bear.

AS. BERAN signified fsee B-T.): i. (i) bear, carry; (2) bear up,
over ; (3) bear away ; (4) bear on one (of weapons, &c.) ; (5) wear
on body; (6) sustain weight of; (7) tolerate; (8) march (?), lead(?),
ELy 45. II. bring forth (i) of plants; (2) of mammalia. The
various compounds of beran show no marked distinctions in
meaning other than those conveyed by the compounded particle.
This verb appears to lack, like its compounds, all traces of phrasal
use other than in the epic phrases, as GewftatS forS beran | w^pen
ond gewsedu, ic ^ow wfsige, Beo., 291 = * march forward.'

Middle-English bear. The various senses of AS. beran were
preserved, with the exception of i. 8. 1.(1) was e^ftended to
immaterial objects', as 'to beren ure louerd ihesu crist on heorte,'
Trin, ColL Horn., 47 (ned). i. (6) was extended to figurative use,
* bear sway,* [He] scholde haue Ibore the heritage, Beketj 2409
(ned); il (i) was extended to the earth (fig.) bearing minerals
or vegetable productions. A very characteristic sense, very late, is
of * thrusting through * (of weapons). Fresh senses of bear are
very numerous (see ned).

We are concerned here however chiefly with the phrasal uses of
bear, which illustrate important differences of AS. and MidE. syntax.

Phrasal uses of beren resp. OFr. porter, bear witnesa
(ned, 2 c): Barr wittness to f>e folic, Orm., 18268. Ne ber f>ou
witnes, C J/., 6478. Als f)e boke beres wytnesse, R. R. H., Pr,
0/ C.y 51. Als J?e buk says and bers witnes, R. R. H., Pr, of C.y
585; A.R,, 236; A. and M., 12S5; R.R.H., Lam.ySs; A. F. L.,
S/. Paula, F. and F., 59, 16; 97, 19; 141, 5. pou sail
noghte bere false wyttnes, R. R. H., P. T., p. 11.

* Cf., Kar je portal en murt sein tutes les iniquitez, Ps. Ixxxviii. 51 =portavi
in sinu.

lO FRENCH ELEMENTS IN MIDDLE ENGLISH

OFt. offers earlier types of this phrase. Testemuine m*en poent
cil de Fescamp porter, Wace, Rou, 1356. E bien li porterent
tesmoing cil qui Ik furent, Villeh., 1 79. Porter lesmoign de bone
vie, R. Rose^ i. 273.

The AS. equivalents are : Ne b^o J)U on liesre gewitnysse ong^n
}?fone n^hstan, Gr., Ex,, 20, i6=non loquerts contra proximum tuum
/ahum testimonium. Lease sibbe ne sceal mon syllan, B, i?., p. 1 7,
1. 7. Sw4 swd eall min msegtS me is to witan, M,^ Lives^ viii. 42.

bear the flower, blome (ned, 3 b): Of alle knyghtes he bar
))e blome, R.B., Ch,^ 4166. And wikked men wij> honoure | Schul
her beo maistres and berebe floure, A, E, Z., St, Aug,, 1019 ; Fol,
P,, i. 216; Ch., Monkes 71, 107; Torrent 0/ P,, 2491.

OFr. offers earlier types of this phrase. De cortoisie et d'onor, |
Portoit Engletere la flor, Wace, Brut, 10775. ^i®^ ^rit la
flor I Ma dame cui j'aor, R, u, P,, i. 60, 64. Certes, dame, ne
m'en chaut pas, | Que ge en ai porte la flor, ib„ i. 69, 47.

bear the prize : Sat a tre . . . "Sat ouer alle otSre bered pris,
G, and Ex,, 325. Of manhod he bar \>q pris, R. B., Ch,, 4172.
And of beute bar ]?e prys, R. B., Ch,, 6180; Oct,, 398 (SE.);
Ip', 156-

OFr. affords the model of this phrase. De tutes les terres de
la I porta le pris e la valur, M. de Fr., Mil,, 330.

Through the association of los and prize as a stock phrase of the
Romance poets as in : — Por los et pris d'armes conquerre, Fl, and
Lir., 1 1 84. K'en totes terres ou entra(n)st | Le los & le pris [en]
portast, Jpom,, 131, 1151, 1588— we get :

bear the los : Of all the sennes tha thar beth, | Thos bereth
that los, Wm. of Sh., 115. Of alle oure beleue she bare J?e los,
R. B., Hand, S,, 868. pat ich day sir Arthour | pe los he bar &
J?e honour, A, and M,, 2983.

Le los & le pris [en] portast, Ipom,, 131. Ceste porte la sei-
gnorie | E Texcellence e la maistrie, Ch, d, N,, 15130 (cf. Ch.,
Prol C. T., 165).

According to ned a bell was sometimes given as a prize at
tournaments, early proof of which is not adduced ; OFr. clocheteur
(God., ix. 112) and even 'bell-wether' suggest a different origin.

bear the beU : Off bounte bereth the bell, Ip,, 4782 ; 5893,
And, let se which of you shal here the belle j To speke of love
aright, Ch., TroiL, iii. 149. The phrase appears still later as ' win
J>e gre,' Sir Egl,, 11.

bear the face, &c. (ned, 3 c) : Towarde a foreste I here the
face. Pearl, 6, 7.

Cf., Tornds ount le vis, Pierre de L., ii. 150. Ne vus ni il n'i
porterez les piez, Ch, de R,, 260. Porter le pid, Ch, d, N.,
ii. 13738.

A parallel idiom is, & bar }?e breste on )?e by-fore, R. B., Ch., 4665.

/. VERBAL PHRASES

II

bear fellowship, company (ned, 3cI, i): Alle )>ai felauschip
bare, CM., 12568. And I with yow, to here yow companye, Ch.,
Z. G. Art'ad,, 173. If eni so wod were, | That Seint Thomas
consaillede and cumpaignye here, Beke/y 990 (ned); R. B., Ch,, 73.

OFr. offers : Com je vous ai port^ mauvaise conpaignie, Ber/e,
2182. De porter fei et conpaignie, Trote, 5847, &c.

bear (an, on) in hand (ned, 3 e) : We wolleth the here an
bond : that the ert his traitour, Beke/, 909. [= maintain an asser-
tion against] (ned): Ye here me wrong on honde, C, M., 15922
(Trin.). Bereth hir an hand that sche hath done this thing, Ch.,
M, of Z. T'., 522. Tithandis . . . that bare on hand. How . .
Bruce, xvii. 82.

The NED looks upon all these as an English imitation of Fr.
maintenir, Med L. manutenere. This foreign influence is borne
out by the phrase ' bear on hand '= carry on, maintain, which seems
to point to *tenir sur main'= tnainienir: II n'est possible de tenir
trois guerres sur main, Litt. de Louis XII, t. iv, p. 14 (in La C,
matn).

bear oneself, deport oneself, behave (ned, 4) : Hu me schal
beren him wiSuten, Jl. i?., 4. pe god queue gaf him in conseile, |
To luf his folk bituene . . . | Bere him till his barons, R. B., Ch,, 98.
Which of yow that beretS him best of alle, Ch., C. 71 ProL, 798 ;
K. 7!, 589. Swa apertly and weille thame bar, Bruce, xiv. 77.

The OFr. construction is similar. Que cis las dolereus Guil-
laumes, | Qui si bien s'est vers moi port^s, FL et BL, 10695 (L.).

bear arms, in technical sense of * be of age ' (ned, 6 * (special
sense)): jif ich euer armes bere | And be of elde, B, of H,, 314.
Al f>at mijt armes bere, RouL and Vern., 80.

OFr. has early examples of this phrase. Et dhs qu'il pot armes
porter, Bru/, 2265.

The AS. expressions of this idea are : paera }>e to gefeohte faran
mihton, Gr., Num., i. 45. pset he woroldwaepno waeg, Bl, Horn.,
213. ToSaem J>aet he sceolde woroldlicum waepnum onfon, Bl,
Horn., 213.

bear the crown = rule : Alle halely and his croun bere | Wele,
and in pees with-outen were, Pr, of C, 408.

OFr. examples : De tote Espaigne corone d'or portant, Aksc,
7824. Qui d*or corone en cief portast, Brui, 2332 ; Ch, d. N,,
21921.

bear likeness, visage, form (ned, 7) : Bot of his liknes J?at he
bar, C. M., 18823 [ned]. Which bereth visage of mannes kinde,
Gower, Confessio Aman,, i. 339 (ned).

In OFr.: Figure porte de diable, Brut, 757 ; 8502.

* In later MidE. 'bear,' to have in one's arms [heraldic], is ■= OYx. porter,
* He bare of Aser^ a schyp of golde.' Sir Egl.y 1 186.
' A cinq labiaus de gueules Tainsnes fils le porta/ Berte^ 3222.

12 FRENCH ELEMENTS IN MIDDLE ENGLISH

bear name (ned, 7 b) : After which planete the day berith his
name, Ch., AsiroL, ii. §§ 12, 23.

OFr. : Le nom k son oncle porta, Brut, 113.

bear (with feelings, = harbour, entertain) (ned, 9) ; bear flaith,
&c. (ned, 9) : Sail Su nojt tSe rijt-wise weren, | Or for hem Se totSere
metS bereiiy G, and Ex., 1044. pat he sholden him god feyth
bere, Hav,, 2853. Until his bro})or nith (var. read, ire) he bare,
C. M., 1069 (ned). Ye ber him right nan aw {var. r, awe),
ib., 12096 (ned). Berets hire menske, A, i?., 140, To
Beues a bar gret envie, Bev, of H,, 839. pet bereth longe
wre]>e ayens oJ>ren, Ayenb,, 8. To beran niS ne onde to nane
cristene monne, 0. Z^, 125. For Sare gode trewtSe Se Su him
bere, F. and F., 103, 31. And to all cristenei men | beren pais
and luve bi-twen, and Ex., 7.

OFr. has a rich variety in equivalent phrases : (^o dist Rollanz ;

* Pur quel me portez ire ? ' Ch. de R., 1722 ; Trts., i. 29. Dont me
ddust porter rancune, Renart, 406; also R. Rose, 1245. Si com
tu sez que je t*ai foi port^e, Alesc, 2284. Quant k Deu ne por-
tames foi, Adam, p. 31 ; also Troie, 1420; Mort Garin, 1789;
M. de Yx.^Eli., 84 ; Eneas, 3318 ; Fab., iii. 73. Fei li porterent e
honur, A. et A., -^2) A. N. Ch,, 228. Et foy et honnor se por-
terent. Fab., i. 319; R' Rose, 1032; G.deP., 783; Machault,
p. 117. A qui nos portum fei e amor, Ch. d. N,, ii. 8209;
17327; 29834. Ne m'en deit porter maltalent, | Corroz ne ire
longuement, Eneas, 9969. Si que Deus ne t'en port haine,
Ch. d. N., ii. 14837. Li porterent mult grant en vie, ib.y ii.
22554. Ains li porterai loiaultei, R. u. P., i. 70, 40. Que Ten
doies porter homage, Wace, Brut, 2399. Ki ne porte a hume ne
fei ne amistie, Rou, ii. 3479. Feut^ | A porter mais \ son a^',
Brut, 6078. Que pais et foi li porterons, ib., 13547. 'Porter la
foi et homage ' was the oath of the vassal to his lord, Du Cange
(Jiomagium).

In AS. simple verbs represented many of these notions : Ne tyn
J?u )?fne n^ahgebUras, Gr., Lev., xix. 18. The Authorized Version

* bear a grudge ' = MidE. beren niS = OFr. porter ire, rancune.
Note: *bear company' was expressed by gej^^odrsedene niman
wiS (associate with, B-T) : Gif hwylc br68or . . . gedyrstlaectS, J?aet
he on aenije wisan aenije 3eJ)eodr»dene nime wiC Jjone amansume-
dan, B. R., 50, 10.

Chronology. Bear, in phrasal use, is not in evidence before
1200; 1 200-1 250, bear witness, Orm.\ bear oneself, A. R.\
about 1250, G. and Ex. shows bear the prize, and begins the use of
bear with feelings ; 1 250-1 300, bear faith, Hav. ; 1 300-1 350, bear
the los, Wm. of Sh. ; bear the flower, R. B., Ch. ; bear company,
C. M.\ bear arms, B.of H.\ bear likeness, C, M. ; bear in (on)
hand, jff^-^^/, C. M.) 1 350-1 400, bear the face, Pearl', bear name,

/. VERBAL PHRASES

13

Ch. These phrases are uniformly antedated by their exact equi-
valents in OFr.

Conclusion. AS. beran, virtually phraseless and narrow in its
range of meanings, undergoes great development of meaning and
phrasal use in MidE. The close similarity of MidE. and OFr. in
phrasal uses of bear, resp. porter, even to the copying of precise
phrases like bear the los, bear the flower, bear good faith, bear
witness, together with the supplanting of certain AS. expressions
for such phrases {e,g, sibbe syllan), establishes OFr. as the para-
mount influence in the phrasal extension of this verb. The
chronology of the extension shows the beginning of the influence
in the early part of the thirteenth century ; its full sway in the first
half of the fourteenth century.

II, Niman, nimen, resp. taken, take.

AS. nimaN had (B-T) as its significations : (i) take, receive,
get; (2) take, keep, hold ; (3) take, catch (not figuratively); (4)
contain ; (5) take (with one) = carry, bring ; (6) take forcibly, seize,
carry off.

It entered into many verbal phrases : — andan niman, take
offence ; bysne niman, take example, warning : And bysne niman,
JE., Lives, XX iv. 66 ; casum niman, take a case (in grammar) ; eard
niman, take up one's abode ; feorh beniman, take away life :
Heora feorh him benam, Gr.,/«</., viii. 2 ; frdondrsfeden niman, hold
friendly intercourse with ; friS niman, make peace with : se consul
genam fri}> wiS Ispanie, Oros.y 5, 14; 46, 7; gel^afan niman, be-
lieve ; graman niman, take offence ; nam to malche fulne graman,
M.y Lives y xxiii. 694 ; Idre niman, receive instruction ; lufe niman,
take affection for; m6d niman, take courage; naman beniman,
take one's name : J)onnebenimS Wisle Ilfinghire naman, Oros., 20,
1 1 ; nfode niman, take pleasure : . . . niode naman, Beo., 2 1 17 ;
sibbe niman, make terms; sige niman, gain the victory; ware
niman, take care ; wsepna niman, take up arms ; wed niman, take
pledge : Gif f>u wed nime, Gr., Ex,, xxii. 26 ; weg niman, take one's
way ; wfcst6wa niman, pitch camp. Add to these certain phrases
in which prepositions enter : on gemynd niman, to bear in mind ;
on haeft niman, to take captive, &c.

MidE. NIMEN continues the sense of AS. niman, but develops
new meanings, steadily following in the wake of the wider signi-
fication of OFr. prendre. The introduction of ON. taka, take,
seize, catch, grasp, reach, &c., which constantly won ground on
nimen during the MidE. period, contributed much to the growth
of phrases, but the evidence of the chronology and of the authors
here cited shows that in the main we have to reckon with French

14 FRENCH ELEMENTS IN MIDDLE ENGLISH

influence and not Norse in the extension of the phrasal use of take
during the period of which we treat. The definition of ON.
phrasal influence is much to be desired.
The chief developments of meaning are : —

1. Seize upon one (of desire, sickness, &c.): Hunger him nam,
G, and Ex,^ 1490. But yef suche thurst take you, Rath, 0. R,,
280. A romance, and hit me took | To rede and drive the night
away, Ch., Duch,, 48 f. Him tok seknes, A, E, Z., SL Aug,y 1635.

OFr. parallels : Somel li prist, dormir se vot, TV., i. 64. Piti^
m'en prist, i. 26. Merueillouse pite li prist, Jflav.^ 580. Talenz
li prist d'aler chacier, M. de Fr., 76 ; Chat,, i. Comme se
fievre m'estoit prise, 844.

2. Capture (of towns, &c.), conquer : pe nimtJ casteles, V, and V.,
129, 4.

In OFr. : Jerusalem prist ja par traVsun, Ch, de R,, 1523. Ja
prist-il Noples, 1775.

3. Begin (with infinitives): Take]>]> nu to fullhtnenn, Orm.,
18269. (ON. usage.)

OFr. : EvruVn prist a castiier, St. Leger, § 18. Li uns en a pris
Tautre a araisnier, Aioly 1958. Quant il Tot mort, sel prent
a chasteier, Cour, Z., 135 (Const., Chres,^ p. 65). Prist sa face k
noircir, Alexand, {Elect), 156.

4. Assume (with *upon'): Take upon me more than ynough,
Ch., ProL Mill, 21, 52. They wole taken on hem no thing, R. Rose,
6107 = sur eus riens n'en prendront, 11 743. OFr.: Tot
le p^chid del mostier pren sor mi, Cour. Z., 1688. Sor lei en
prist lo greingnor fes, Trote, 2084. Vous le prendrez sur vous
pour trestout amender, Hugues Capet, v. 3320 (L.).

The chief phrasal uses of nimen, resp. taken, showing Romance
influence are : —

take advantage : He that . . . wolde | Take avauntage, Gower,
Con/., iii. 322 (ned).

Prendriez vus nul avantage, Yr.-Bk, Ed, I,, p. 119 {anno 1292).

take the air : Bruce, vi. 304.

Pour I'air avoir nouvel et prendre, God. de P., 308.

take amends : And tok a-mendis at thair hand, Bruce, xii. 382.

Que j'en puisse prendre amendise, G, de P., 889.

take arms [= be knighted] : How he toke armes of kyng
Calomond, Torrent of P., 2168.

Que d'autrui ne uuel armes prendre, Cligh, 121.

take arrivage : And prevely took arrivage, Ch., H,ofF,, 223.

A Cotenois rivage prist. Brut, 5238. En mer se met, si ot bon
vent I En Crete prist arrivement, De Josaph., Rich., 1553 (God.).

take avis: Sche . . . took avis by hirself, Ch., MeL, p. 189.
* Es estoiles prent son avis. Gen., Best,, B. M. (in God.).

take baptism : And baptism tok, Scot, Leg,, iii. 247.

/. VERBAL PHRASES

^5

Un crestiens ne prist batesme, Ch, d, N,, ii. 30337. Mais
prent batesme, J^onc, p. 145 (L.). Et prendront baptestire veraie-
ment, Awl, 408.

take battle: ^if men habbeth bataile i-nume, O, and N*, 1195.
And y schal for pe take bataile, A, and A,, 11 12.

Vers cui il a pris bataille, CItg/s, 574. Bataille ne prendrei pur
Sarazin, FitzW.y p. 163.

take blood : 7 nome blod 7 ban i ]>at meare meiden, y^//., p. 63.

Et sane et char i presistes per nous, Elie^ 1374. Et car et sane
presis en la dinge moUier, Aiol, 6185. 'take flesh.'

take comfort : tat no cumfort wolde he forJ> take. A, E. Z.,
Amh,, 422. Nor comfort noon unto hir take, R, of R,^ 318.

Ne sai oill nul confort pregne, Couci ix (L., valloir): Od tel aviez
pris solaz, Ch. d, N,, ii. 25892. Je y prend grant plaisance,
grant confort et grans d^duis, Machault, p. 135; p. 137.

Cf. AS., Teah him elnunge to, Lives, xxiii. 524.

take counsel: Ac lebbe and nime godne red, O, E. H,, *ji.
Swo hi nomen conseil betuene hem, O, K, Serm,, p. 26. King
uter nom is conseil, R. G., C/i,, 3254. Who knew euer any kyng
such counsel to take, G. and G. A!'., 682; St. Marg., 136.

A voz Franceis un cunseill en preistes, Ch. de R., 205. Conseil
en prist od li meesme, Ch. d. N., ii. 13003. Si en soit jk li
conseil pris, 7r., i. 33; i. 113. Altre cunseil vus estuet prendre,
M. de F., 2 Am.. 10 1. Lors pristrent consoil qu'il porroient
respondre, /<?j. of A.y 239; Gaimar, 3070; Hav., 688.

AS. niman to rsede : And nam him to rsede, M.y Lives, iii. 230.
This construction persists in MidE., as in : Hwi nulleS hi nimen
heom to rede, 0. and N., 1762. Hii nome hom to rede, R. G.,
Ch., 9758. Heo nomen heom to )>am rede, 0. E. H., p. 91. The
later expressions : Has tane to rede that he vald nocht, Bruce, xii.
389 ; And till purpoff haft tane ] Till wend hamward, ih., xvi. 471,
are French.

take course: Tak }>y cours wif> schafte, Libeaus Des., 334.
Othere toke f)at cors on haste. Sir Ferumh., 3152.

Ne devrunt lur curs prendre, St. Brandan, 234. Similar to
AS. : weg niman, OFr. chemin {vote) prendre.

take the cross [= become crusader] : pe cross nom, R. G.,
Ch., 346.

Pristrent la croyx, Liver e de Reis, 244.

take crown : Uterpendragon coroun nam, A. and M., 2049.

Pran la corone, rois devien, Wace, Brut, 16816; Ch. d. N., ii.
20108. AS. f6n to rke.

take cure : But ye the rather take cure, Ch., Comp. Pit., 82.

Ja sor toi cure n'en prandrai, Wace, Brut, 6727. A deu prie
qu'en prenge cure, M. de Fr., Gui., 200. Del sujumer ne prist
cure, St. Brandan, 162 ; Best. Rich., 859; Troie, 11 761.

1$ FRENCH ELEMENTS IN MIDDLE ENGLISH

take day : And toke day at \>t monihys ende of pleyn batayle,
OcL, 1497.

Un jor qui fus nomez et pris, Cltg/s, 4629. Et pristrent jor des
noces fere, Fab,, iv. 114. Cf. also, Et pris terme des noces ffere,
tb,, i. 46; Troie, 27726.

In AS., daeg settan, Ps., Th., Ixxv. 7 (B-T).

take death: l>et he nimf) f)ane dyaj>, Ayen., 3a. Ffor f>at
Walwes his de)? )?er tok, R. B., C^., 6100. Oure louerd hi self
tok strong def), St. Marg,, 105.

D'icele croiz il Deus prist mort, Ch, d, N,, ii. 23295. Ja mais
n*en penras mort tant com en dura uns, EltCy 740.

take discipline : NemetS discipline of all "Se misdades t^e ^e
deS, F. and F., 125, 29.

Et desipline iloques prisent, Wace, Brut, 14904.

take ease : But vachis, tak thair eilT and ly, Bruce, vii. 306.

En ce mortel monde ne faut y prendre ses aises, Al. Char., Con,
trots V. (God.).

take endt The dragon hatJ tan hys jynde, Sir Eg!,, 756. Or
that 5our purposs ende haf tane, Bruce, iv. 660. Hit ne me
neauer mare lutlin ne wursin ne neome nan ende, O, E, H,,
p. 265.

Des que la u la mer e la terre prent fin, Wace, Rou, ii. 2689.
Ne prist cesse ne fin, Ch. d. N,, ii. 27215. Pristrent fin ne ces, Trote,
1 167. No cantefable prent fin, Auc, et N,, 41, 24. Quel veie
e chemin I O tuit prenent fin! Reimp,, § 125; Aiol, 2370;
Brandan, 720; Gaimar, 266.

take entent : But euermore heo tok entent . . . Hire mouj) to
stoppe, A. E, L,, St, Paula, 151. Now tak here-to good entent,
A, E. L., Kindj,, 277; A, and M,, 1968. CL prendre cure,
prendre garde, &c. under * take heed,' q. v.

take example: NimetS nu uorbisne hu god . . ., A, R,, 254.
To nime ensample afterward, R. G., Ch., 8975. To take ensaum-
pille of }?ame, R. R. H., P, T,, 37 ; Ch., Monkes T., 249 ; Scot.
Leg., Prol, 29.

Cil devra Tom essample prendre, Ch. d. N., ii. 12 641. Ki bien
voldreit raisun entendre | ici purreit ensample prendre, M. de Fr.,
313' prendre example bel et gent, Fab,, i. 26; Hav., 4.
Similar to AS. bysne niman.

take flesh, humanity : manhede \>2X toke flesshe and bone,
R. B., Hand, S., 661. To takenn ure mennisclegge, Orm., 85.

E pur nus de la pucele char prist, Man. Pech,, 1348. Com
vos preites char en la Jos, 0/ Arm,, 11 77. Cf. : Pregnent
ja mais cors, Eneas, 2886. Prendent humaine figure, Wace,
Brut, 7639. Incarnassion | Prist, ib,, 15297, Humanity | Piist,
Boron, Graal, loi. Prist-il no vie, 141.

Cf. AS., and flaesc under-feng, JE,, Lives, xxx. 64.

i

/. VERBAL PHRASES

17

take flight : tat dper dragoun his flijt nome, B. of (or),
2641. He hath takyn flyght, Ip.^ 8623. I will nocht tak flicht,
Scot. Lep:., Paulus, 217; Bruce, xiii. 279.

Et k Londres son vol prendroit, Wace, Brut, 1686. Si je
n'^ trop loing pris mon vol, La Poire, 2252. II prit son vol (of a
hawk), p. 164 (L^). Purquei d'iloec preignent fuite (take
retreat). Si. Brandan, 1163; TrisL, 148.

take going : Out of f>e chauncel tok his going, A.E.L., Am,, 1050.

Prent soun aler, Pierre de L., i. 78. Prent soun voyage, id., 8.

take gram : Whare many of the Normandes tok mekil grame,
Minot, in Pol, P., i. 70. Cf. take ire, Ch., C Mars, 132; and
pris haine, Ch, d, N., ii. 5180. AS. graman niman.

take habit [= become a monk]: Whon Bernard had taken his
abyt, A. E. L., St, B„ 287.

Prist dras de moigne, Gaimar, 1566. E prist Tabit de muniage,
Josaph,, 114.

take harbour, inn, &c. : Askede here if jhe migte taken |
Herberje for hire frendes sake[n], G. and Ex., 1391. And toke
them herboure thare, Ip., 309. For}? him wente sire Benoun | And
tok is in in J?at toun, B» of H,, 1133.

Herberges unt purprises, PU, de Ch., 109. Perneit la nuit
herbergement, M. de Fr., Chi^v., 34. Ostel prisent, bien s'atombrent,
Wace, Brut^ 2056; Concept., p. 6o, Prist-il herberjaje, Alesc,
2325; herbergerie, ib., 2332.

take haven: .Hauene he tok at Porcestre, R. B., C^., 5397.

R. B. here translates : Port et terre prist k Porcestre, Wace,
Brut, 5020; Troie, 3271; Trist., i» 43, Que il prendroient port
- a Corfol, Villeh., 56.

take heart: Ac gode hert to 30U take^?, A. and M., 2090.
[For] to do this, so that thou take good herte, Ch., of F., 603.

Tel cuer prenez et tel corage, Troie, 13556. Mes pren bon
cuer et si t'avance, R. Rose, i. 228. Cf. AS. m6d niman.

take heed : Whan men of hir taken noon hede, R. of R., 418.
Nimen hede, P. PI (B.), xi. 313. Tac hede of })e werke \oxi,
A. E. L., St. Aug., 1259.: To ri3t and law that ssold tak hede,
Pol S, 197.

Lusiane sa fille si s'en prist garde, Aiol, 1990. II fust assez
qui guarde en prist, M. de Fr., Lan., 545. Conques garde ne
m'en pris, R. u. P., i. 39, 39.

The AS. idiom is ware niman.

take keep : And f)e mare sorow when f>ai tuk kepe, Pr. of C,
381. And or that Arcyte may taken keep, Ch., K. T., 1830.
Haid 3e tane keip how at that king, Bruce, i. 95.

Mais a Rome dist al sdn^ | Que de la mer garde prendroit, Wace,
Brut, 5509 ; Ch. d. N., ii. 25486. Ipomedon guarde n*en prist,
Ipom., 3808 ; R. Rose, 412.

B

l8 FRENCH ELEMENTS IN MIDDLE ENGLISH

take land : JEt Dovre he J?ohte nimen lond, Laj., 9737. On
vest half, toward dumfermlyne | Tuk land, Bruce^ xvi. 550.

A paine avoient t^re prise, Wace, Bruty 4059. Lk pristrent
terre o Deus les volt mener, Alesc.y xvi. (L.). Cf. prist rivage, Wace,
Bruiy 5238. Also ON., land taka.

take leave: Nom leaue }?ereof, A, i?., 230. Joseph of
Aramathye tok leue at Pylate, R. R. H., Med,, 369. And nime
leve, O, and N., 457. Horn tok his leue, Horn, 463 ; R. G., C^.,
300; Oa. (SE.), 529; A. and A., 131, 974.

Prenent cungied, k eel mot s'enturnent, C*^. de R,, 2764; Trtst,,
ii. 61 ; Hav,, 552. De son seignur ad pris congid, A, et A,, 52,
245 ; Jos. of Arim,, 968, 1460, &c.

This phrase is interesting as showing the development of AS.
l^af, leave = permission, licence ; but not farewell. Cong^ in
OFr. had both senses; OFr. had not only donner congi
[= permettre], AS., liaf syllan\ but also prendre congi
take leave, to say farewell to. MidE. extends AS. Uaf to agree
with OFr.

take life : Bynym nought thy sonnys lyf, Seven Sages, 705.
A maint paien en a le jour la vie prise, Bu. C, 3792.
AS. feorh beniman.

take lordship, mastery : &e lordschip of J?is lande )>ai namen,
R. B., Ch., 36. I>e maistrie from Maxcence he nam, ib,, 6240 ;
Ch., Frank, T,, 19.

Desus Bier prist la maistrie, Wace, Ron, i. 236.

take mercy: On us eny mercy take, A. E. L., C. de C, 120.

De ceste terre quar praigne piti^, Ch, d, N,, 568; Wace,
Nicholas, 98. Volentiers preist grace, kar de prendre a mes[tier],
Wace, Rou, ii. 4424.

take order : je ne tok neuer as i trowe | Of knijthod \t hordere,
W, of P,, 4461. And ordurres non will take, Torrent, 48. Order
of knijt, ih., 51. To take }?e ordre of Sistewes, A.E, L,, St, Bern.,
146. Loke how many orders take | Onely of Christ, for his service,
Pol, P,, i. 329.

Qu'il volt a Jumeges (prendre) ordre de moniage, Wace, Rou, \u
1756. C'est nostre compere Ysengrin | Qui de nouel a Ordre pris,
Renart, 2163.

take part: Beo heo dal neominde of heofene riches blisse,
a E. H., 47.

Tiel en prist part, pas n'en joi*, A, N, Ch,^ i, 16.

take purpose: When I had takene my syngulere purpos,
R. R. H., P, T,, p. 5. He toke his purpose hole to wende, Ip,,
1205.

Et quel porpans an porra prandre, Wace, Conception (God.);
Rou, i. 630.

/. VERBAL PHRASES

19

take reed : Of hir tunge ho nom red, O, and N,, 1 07 1 . See
* take counsel/

take rest: & wolde take her reste, Wm, of P., 2236. & t>er
token aise & rest, A. andM,, 8209. Besyde Acrys yn a boschayle
)>ey token rest, OcL, 1607 (SE.). And toke rest tyl hyt was daye,
Seven Sages y 2197.

La nuit, quant repos doivent prendre, CL d^A,, 3. Sanz repos
prendre et «ans s^jour, JR, Rose, 362. Entresqu'ad Ais ne voelt
prendre sujur, C. de i?., 3696.

take right [= justice] : Neme riht of Se seluen, V, and F.,

Que mors son droit des cors prendra, La Rose, 8170 (L.). Et des
felons iustise prist, Hav., 974; Ch, d, N,, ii. 19771.

take the sea: per he |>a sae nom, La^., 4966 (translating il
prit la mer (S-B)).

take sorrow: Such sorwe this lady to her took, Ch., Duch,, 95.
In heuerlc birShe sorge numen, G. and Ex., 368. See * take comfort/

take standing : He went and tok his stondyng, A. E. L., Amb„
1057.

Pur vostre amur ici prendrai estal, CK de R., 2139. Drias
returnee prent estal, Ip,, 5830; Alexand, (^En/ance), 257.

take tent : There to wold he take no tente, Ip., 519. Take je
tente to 50W, and to al the flocke, Wic, Deeds, 20, 28. See * take
entent, heed, keep/

take truce : Quhill trewis at the last tuk thai, Bruce, xiv. 96.

Quar prenez truies, que n'i enterrons. Prise d'Or., 1043.
A quinze dls triue prendreient, En,, 6004 ; Mori Garin, 838 ; Ch,
d, N,, ii. 24625; Gaimar, 2563.

take turn: From |?e tyme he took his tourne ffram Rome,
Alex, (Laud 622), 343,

Puis prist son tor par Alemaigne, Wace, Brut, 3928.

take vengeance : Whan God took wreche of Kaymes synne,
R. B., Ch,, 202. Nimen wreche, G, and Ex,, 1042, And brende
& slug & wreche nam, G, and Ex,, 2668. And tuke na vengeance
of us, R. R. H., P, T,, 38. On Surriens to take high vengeaunce,
Ch., M. Z. T„ 865.

Quidez vus prendre de RoUant venjaisun, Ch, de R,, 401 f.
Mult grant venjance en prendrat TEmperere, Ch, d, N,, 1489.
Que d'aus venjance querre et prendre, G, de P., 6492. Que tu
nen vausis prandre venjance, 0/ Arm., 591.

take way: Ne take f>e ways of lyfe certayne, R. R. H., Pr. of
C, 7242. To his felawes in he took his way, Ch., N, P, T., 206 ;
Monkes T„ 364 ; Oct, 1041 (NE.), &c.

Lor droit chemin ont pris vers la citeit, R. u. P„ i. 5, 27.

AS. weg niman.

B 2

20 FRENCH ELEMENTS IN MIDDLE ENGLISH

take jeme : Ne neme"S neuer jeme, A, R,, 230. Neme michele
jieme, V, and F., 87, 27. Nim jeme to me n\iiSey/uL, 75. Nim
jeme & understond J?et he . . ., A. i?., 184; F. and F., 4, 29;
aS"/. Marh,^ p. 4 ; ZT. Maid., p. 3. All based on prendre cure,
prendre garde. ' AS. gfmzxi or d6n g^men : G^mene d6 se Abbod
= curam gerit abbas, B, i?., interl. 27, Lye, in B-T.

take wife : Or he eni wif take, HorUy 553.

Madan prist feme et ot deus fis, Wace, Brut, 1489 ; Ch, d, N,,
ii. 8862. Qu'Anna prfet autre mari, Wace, Concept,, p. 55.

Also AS, : S6 forma nam wff, Luke, xx. 29.

take agame: Ther-for ye oghte haue som compassioun | Of
my disese and take it noght agame, Ch., C Mars, 277.

Prendre k jeu, = consid^rer comme une plaisanterie : Que je
puisse prendre | Tes grosses parolles k jeu, Deda/ d. L nourr,,
ATF., ii. 421 (God.).

take agrief : He tok it . . . agref, K. Alu, 3785. Take it
nought agreef, Ch., R, Z, 73. Ladi, tak hit not a gref, R. R. H.j
Lam,, 12^, Madame, takes not a-greeve. Sir Deg,, 467. Sire
emperour, take nowt a-greef. Seven Sages, 53. Also, take at greffe,
II. Ip,, 197, on greue, Sir Am,, 30.

Cf., tenir h grief = to feel offended : Cassibelaus qui tint a grief,
Brui, 3982. X tort le prent, Alisc, 11 59. And prendre en gr/
is very common = receive favourably ; Ton service prendre en gr^;
R. Rose, 2035.

take in cure, keep : Quwich ... I tak not in my cure,
Lane, 266.

Que ie vos praigne toz an garde, 0/ Arim,, 1384 ; Ch, d, N:,
ii. 20226. L'afaire a pris en cure, Bu, de C, 1411. Se Diex et
vous ne me prenez en cure, Machault, p. 57.

take in disdain: But take it not, I prey you, in desdayn, Ch.,
Prol C, T,, 788.

En desdein prist la Deu verba, St, Brandan, 531.

take in good intent : She taketh in good entente the wil of
Christ, Ch., M, L, T,, 726. And took it in good entent, Alex.
(Laud, 622), 336.

Trop prent en gr^ quanque li fait, Ch, d, N,, ii. 16876. Le prent
pour Dieu en gr^ et loiaument le sert, Berte, 871. Si les maux en
gre m'en prent, R, u. P,, iii. 2, 39. Mais en bon grd le prennent
pour Dieu, Bu, de C, 1015. *De bon gr^' is very common
in adverbial constructions. Cf. Lat. : in bonam (malam) partem
accipere.

take in mercy : And thai talk thame in thair mercy, Bruce,
xiv. 414. Analogous to take in disdain, &c. ; but cf., Ne les prist
\ mis^ricorde, Machault, 69. Prengne \ merci, Enf, Og,, 197.

take in patience : He tok in pacience to live or dye, Ch.,

/. VERBAL PHRASES

21

C. Mars, 40. They most take in pacience a-night, Ch., M. Z. 7!,
612. This worthy Monk took al in pacience, Ch., Pr, Monkes 71,
77. Wal take it into pacience, Ch., Mel., p. 160.

Apres, Amis, en pacience | Dois penre et avoir soufisance,
Machault, p. 93. Prit en patience, y«z;w. Ch., vi. 1380 (L.); Pol,
Songs, Bel Eyse, 153.

take in thank : Tharfor this seknes and this payne | I tak in
thank for my trespaff, Bruce, xx. 176, = prendre en gri, see * take
in good intent.'

take in vain : Nim godes name in ydel, Ayen,, 6, Take naujt
hys name in ydelschepe, Wm. de Sh., 93. That takes not her lyf
in vayne. Pearl, 58, 3. pat Cesar tok his preyejr in veyn, R. B.,
Ch,, 5240.

Vus ne prendrez mie en vain le non nostre seignur, Rubric, Man,
Peek., f. 131 1,

In AS. on ydel was freely used for * in vain,' but not with niman.
In Deut. we read: Ne nemne ge drihtnes naman on fdel, Or.,
Deut., V. II = non usurpabas nomen domini dei tui frustra. For
pam )?e ne bi8 he unscildig, se f>e for fdelum )>inge his naman nemt5
= qui non erit impunitus, qui super re vana nomen ejus assumpr
serit. Cf. also, Se ]?e his naman on ^del nemS, Gr., Ex,, xx. 7,
= non assumes nomen domini tui in vanum.

The Latin of course frequently used in vanum, Cf. Non habebis
nomen dei tui in vanum, Ne have J)u f)ines drihtenes nome in nane
aSa ne in nane idel speche,' 0, E, H,, i. 1 1.

take to heart : pat word tok he yuel til herte, R. B., CK, 2317.
pat nam he most to herte, Wm, 0/ P., 1 203.

Cil en relieve la roine | Qui a cuer prent mult son afaire, G, de
P,, 5297. Lit en un livre, mais au cuer ne Ten tient, R, u, P,,
i. 3» 2-

take to ill: The kyng wold gretly take it to ille, Ip,, 1996.
Y pray yow take hit not to ille. Sir Deg., 442. =* taKe agrief,' q. v.

Pour cou le tient a mal | Qu'il . . ., Alexan, {Clzns), 105. S'en
prist k tort, God. de P., 3165.

take to purpose : And till purpoff haff tane | Till wend ham-
ward, Bruce, xvi. 471. See 'take to rede/

take to rede, counsel [= to think advisable] : Hy nome sone
to rede, St. Nicolas (Delius), p. 92. Has tane to rede that he vald
nocht, Bruce, xii. 389.

Nos vos dirons ce que nous avons pris k conseil, Villeh., 14.

take to wife : To f>i wif Jju me take, Horn, 536. And took
hyr to hys make anoon, Seven Sages, 3281.

Feme son oncle, son seignor | Prist k feme, Wace, Brut, 13435.
Prist k mollier, Trisl., i. 123, Si le prendrai a feme, a per et a
niollier, Aiol, 6900,

22 FRENCH ELEMENTS IN MIDDLE ENGLISH

An AS. construction as well : t6 gemaeccan niman, to suna
niman, &c. Similarly, take to party : Cam took Aufryk til his partie,
R. B., Ch,y 228. Take to prisoner : He toke him there to presun-
nere, Av, 0/ A,, 33.

take (to) witness : {a) Vor -oure godes ich take to witnesse,
R. G., Ch., 1257 ; P. PL (a.), xi. 41. God i take to my witnes,
A. E. L., St, Paula, 8. (3) I take witnes of seint Poule, 22 ;
(1382) PoL P,y i. 250; Torrent, 1220.

In AS. the sense of these phrases is expressed : Ic haebbe to
daeg to gewitnisse heofen and eorSah, Gr., Deut.y iv. 26, Ic clipie
me to daeg to gewitnysse, ib,, xxx. 19. God to gewitan haebbende,
M., Lives, xxiii. B, 78. God him to gewitan . . . foresettende,
ib,, xxiii. B, 270. And .Crist me is gewita, ib., xxx. 359.

Though * to gewitan niman ' apparently does not occur in AS. it
is a possible construction : cf. 7 hu Bretlaine namon Maximianum
him to casere ofer his willan, Oros^y 7, 11.

The French construction is rather trat're h iesmoin : A tesmoig
en trairoie maint franc home gen til, Aiol, 10, which is imitated in :
To wittnesse ich drawe echone, R. G., Ch,, 694. Phrases like (b)
are scarcely contracted forms of {a) ; they are analogical to bear
witness, &c., porter t^moin.

Chronology. The verb niman had in AS. a fair amount of
phrasal power. The extension of the phrasal power of nimen
resp. taken in MidE. begins in the first half of the thirteenth century,
when take is found in phrasal use with blood, counsel, end, land,
leave, part, right, sea, jeme. The second half of the century sees
the phrases with battle, intent, harbour (inn), sorrow, vengeance.
A large extension is noted in the first half of the fourteenth century :
take amends, the cross, comfort, day, death, flesh, flight, habit,
haven, hunt, Seep, lordship (mastery), purpose, rest, standing, agrief,
in vain, to heart. A somewhat greater influence is found in the
second half of the fourteenth century : take the air, advantage, arms,
arrivage, avis, baptism, cure, course, ease, mercy, order, tent, truce,
agame, in cure, in good intent, in patience, in thank, in disdain,
in mercy, to ill, to rede, to purpose.

Conclusion. The AS. niman on its phrasal side was in part in
accordance with OFr.; e.g. bysne niman, prendre example; ware ni-
man, prendre garde ; weg niman, prendre chemin ; wff niman, prendre
femme. It was not difiicult for such phrases to survive the struggle
of the transition period. In some cases, e. g. the phrases friS niman,
sige niman, the AS. phrases, unsupported by French parallels, dis-

//. ADVERBIAL PHRASES OF NEGATION 25

the negative particle strengthened by (Goth.) wafht, * thing/ corre*
spending to our use of nothing.

On the Latin side the most complete treatment I have met is
that of Alfred Schweighaeuser (see infra), A more recent and, in
respect to the ultimate force of nihili, malli, a more trustworthy
treatment is by Wolfflin in his article in the Archiv, 1894, i,
^ Der Genitiv des Wertes und der Ablativ des Preises.' The use of
nihili [= ni hili, not a thread], of flocci, a flock of wool, nauci, an
empty nut, pili, hair, hettae, and of various coins — terunci, semissis,
assis, dupondii, tressis — with the verbs non facere, pendere, putare,
deputare, habere, censare, aestimare, or in popular speech existi-
mare, shows the extent to which the figurative negation had its
roots in Latin, especially in the familiar correspondence, the comic
dramatists, and popular speech. The * homo trioboli * of Plautus,
translated directly from the not uncommon Gk. Tpioi>^\ov ^ior,
illustrates the ease with which one language will adopt the current
phrase of another.

For the French brief mention is made by Grimm, * Deutsche
Grammatik'; Raynouard, * Grammaire compar^e/ p. 370 ; Diez,
'Grammaire des langues romanes,' iii. 935; and D. Gilles, * De
Temploi de la negation dans la langue fran9aise,' Bruxelles, 1877.
Very full, though, to judge from my own collections, still very
incomplete treatments are made by Alfred Schweighaeuser (S.),
in an article * De la Negation dans les langues romanes du midi et
du nord de la France,' published in the * Bibliothfeque de I'ficole
des Chartes,' Paris, III. ii, iii (1850, 1851); and by F. Perle,

* Zeitschrift fur Romanische Philologie,' ii. 408 ff. Definitive treat-
ments of the figurative negations in the various Romance languages
are miich to be desired.

For MidE. we have the work of Dr. Hein, referred to below.

The AS. negations. — The negation in AS. was very simple.
In general, ne with the verb was sufficient to express the negative.
It might be strengthened with some form of wiht, originally

* creature,' * thing/ or in the very late days of AS. by j?ing. A few
negative adverbs, such as nalles, nateshw6n, were in use. These,
and a trace, perhaps, of a figurative formation in hand-hwfl,
moment, and the very late use of f6t with a verb of motion,
virtually comprise the negative adverbial expressions in AS. : —
Ne sleh 8u, Gr., Ux., xx. 13; Ne Jjurfan 5^ n6ht besorgian hwset
30 sprecan, Bl. Hom.^ p. 163 ; Ic ne maeg wuht oncnawan, Cd., 26

26 FRENCH ELEMENTS /N MIDDLE ENGLISH

(B-T). And se penda (this Penda) ne cutfe be criste nan J)incg,
M.,LweSy xxvi. 153; Nelle ic . . . oferfleon f6tes trem, Beo., 2525 ;
f6tmil landes, By,, 275; Swa sceal mafeg d6n, | nealles inwit-netj
dSrum bregdan, Beo,, 2167; pa nolde Seon pQ cyning ndteshwon
him tlSian, Gr., Num., xxi. 23.

In contrast with this paucity of negative adverbial expressions,
the wealth of MidE. is striking. Objects from organic and
inorganic nature, plants, animals, parts of the body, fruits, articles
of food and clothing, measures of value, weight, &c., all are put
into service in a vivid colloquial style. The change is startling,
and forces one naturally to seek an explanation for it in the language
most closely associated with MidE., and in which the figurative
negation shows a most luxuriant growth.

The OFr. negation. — Even in the earliest stages of the French
language the French negative was thoroughly figurative — the
negative particle was constantly strengthened by words used
tropically. All or almost all the tropical value had, even in early
French, been lost in negations with mie < mtcam : II ne s'esveillet
mie, CA, de i?., 724 ; pas < passum: Ne Tdevez pas'blasmer, Ch,
de R,, 681; point < pundum \ Respont Roland: ne sui point
empir^, Rone, p. 92 (L.); mot < muitum : II n'en set mot, n'i ad
culpe li ber, C\ de R., 1173 ; rien < rem : Mais en enfer ne me
valt rien, St. Brandan, 1456 ; goutie < guttam : Et gute ne vedeit,
Rots, p. 48 (L.) ; pted < pedem : Del regne la meitii . . . Ja n'en
aurai, dist il, ne plein pas ne plein pi^, Rou, 658 ; det < digtium :
Tant cum Tiebalt tendra de ma terre plein dei, ib., 4325.

In addition to these, in which in more than one case a strong
trace of the figurative value of the expression is to be noticed, there
are very many negative phrases in which the figurative value is the
chief characteristic. It is necessary, in order to understand the
character of French during the period of its early influence on
English, to bring these forward. The examples that immediately
follow are restricted to dates anterior to 1 200, consequently before
the first indisputable occurrence of the figurative negation in MidE.,
and are taken in most cases from Norman texts : c. 1040, Alexis,
17 f Que Torgueil de ce monde ne prisoit un fromage; c. 1060,
Fit. de Ch., 575, N'en i remaindrat ja pesant une escaligne
[= onion]; c. 1080, Ch, de R,, 3338, Tute lur lei un denier' ne
lur valt; ib, 1879, En la bataille deit estre forz e fiers, | O altrement
ne valt quatre deniers; 11 00 + , Char, de N,, 626, Ja de la moie
n'auroiz m^s plain un gant; ib. 278, N'i ai conquis vaillant un fer
de lance ; ib, 428, N'en ai ^u vaillant un oef pel^ ; 1 133 + Ste, Marg,
116, Ne prise pas une chevele | Quant que li ai dit ne promise ;
CI 1 50, Cour, L.y 156, N'a veve feme vaillant un angevin [small
coin]; ib. 909, La vielle broigne ne li valut un paile; ib, 2372,
2394, 2418, Mar i perdra vaillant une maaille; ib, 838, Ne pris-ge
mie n^s un trespas de vent; ib. 1049, Ne I'enpira vaillant un

//. ADVERBIAL PHRASES OF NEGATION 27

esperon; ilf, 1052, Ne valent mhs ti cop un haneton; c. 11 50,
Clef <f Amour, 1169, Quer homme ne vaut un bouton; c. 11 50,
Prise (fOr.y 15 13, Par Mahomet! ne vaus un romoisin [small
coin] ; c. 11 50, Alesc, 377, La soe force ne vaut pas un bouton ;
td. 1687, Ne li valut la targe une espani^re, | La vielle broigne,
rain d'une fochi^re; td, 4918, Ne li pesoit le rein d'un olivier; id.
16, Mhs ne li monte le pris de .ij. besanz ; td. 310, Par mi son
elme, mhs n'enpire un festu; td, 6268, Ne crient cop d'arme vail-
lant un panoncel; td, 6754 li sont com un pant d'auqueton [' sorte
d'^tofFe, drap'l; td, 6473, Et Apolin, qui ne vaut un festu, | Ne
Tervagan la fuelle dun s6u [elder]; c. 1160-74, Pou, 4144,
Eureues ont perdu, n'i prist vaillant un peis ; c. 1 1 66 + , JEliey 2 1 1 1 ,
Onques nel sorporta vaillant une chenele (= haw); id, 2088, Ne
Tempirist il ia le monte d'une nesple [medlar] ; c. 1165 + , Mor/
Garin, 2075, Tot ce ne pris une poire porrie; id, p. 240, Onques
n'i prist la monte d'un espi, &c.

This list, by no means complete, will suffice to represent the
fullness of growth of the figurative negation in French in the early
literature of that language.

MidE. negations and OFr. parallels. — Dr. J. Hein, in his full
and in almost every respect trustworthy work \ has given a syste-
matic presentation of the occurrences of the negation in MidE. poetry.
For not a few of the examples here adduced (marked H.) I am
indebted to that admirable work. In seeking psychological grounds
as the immediate cause of the growth of negative expressions
in MidE., Dr. Hein has, for lack of the comparative method, been
led into error. On the other hand, the French influence, which he
suspects to have probably had no inconsiderable share in bringing?
about this growth ^, is the immediate source of inspiration, the model
of its form, and in almost every case the content of its thought.

In the presentation of the English negatives, Hein's article
permits me to restrict the number of illustrations.

apple : Ne worth an appel for to lowe, R, of R,, 4532.

Ne crient assaut une pome par^e, Alesc, 4230 (also Proven9al).
Certes, ne priseriez mie | Vostre eise une pomme pourrie. Boron,
Graalf 4001. Qu'el ne prise pas une pome, R, Rose, p. 217 ; also
Troie, 3085. De che n en poise pas sa vie | Vaillant une pume
pourrie, Fad,, ii. 77 (also Pro ven9al). Ki riche hume ) S'il ne valt
une bele pume, Ip,, 8407. Je ne pris mon niari mie | Une orde
pome porrie, R, u, P,, i. 49, 55.

bean: Lete abbe ir franchise, and al nas wurth a bene, R. G.,

' * Ueber die bildliche Vemeinung in der mittelenglischen Poesie,' Anglia,
XV. 41 fF., 391 fF.; also sep. ed., Halle, 1893.

" Dr. Hein*s position as respects possible French influence is as follows
' Denn Franzosischen, dessen Vemeinung ausschliesslich eine bildliche ist, ist
wohl kein geringer Antheil an diesem Wachstum, bcsonders bei den mil nach-
folgendem (Jenitiv stehenden Bildern zuzuschreiben,' Anglia, xv. 471.

jzS FRENCH ELEMENTS IN MIDDLE ENGLISH

Ch,y 10223. His helme was not worthe a bene, Ip,, 6238. Ther
is no rijch man that dredeth God | The worth of a bene, Time
of Ed, IL, str. 47, lo-ii [H.]; Ch., Mar. 7!, 19.

Ne le mentir line feve ne prisent, Chans. MSS. du C*® Thibaut,
p, 16 (La C). See pois = haricots, in many dialects (La C).

blenk: And nogt a blenk mu3t he se, C. M. (Fairf.), 19648.

Blenk = gleam of light (ned). lloeces gis, n'i ai luur, St.
Brandan, 14 18. n'i verra chandoile n^ luor, Cov, Vtv., 549.
11 ne voit plus ne luor ne clart^, Ronces., 91 (L.). The usual
equivalent is goutte.

briar: It is not worth acroked brere, R, o/R,y 6194.

Onques n'i prist la monte d'une espi, Mort Garin, p. 240. Le
roy vit que sa force n'i valsit .ij. espis, A, N. Ch,, iii. 188. Qu'il
donnast vaillant un espi, Fah,y ii. 175.

bristle : No is wor)> J>e brust of a swin, Roul and Vern.y 561.

Ne lessierent poll ne pelet, G. de Coinci, Mir. (God., pelef).

butterfly: Such talkeinge is nought worth a boterflye, Ch,,
Fr. N. P. T.y 24; Mar. 71, 12304.

De lui n'ai garde ne que d'ung papillon, Gir, de Ross , 3260.

button : Ne vailede him nou^t worJ> a botoun, ^. 1004.
It no vailed botoun, Tris/,, 1448 [H.].

La soe force ne vaut pas un bouton, Alesc.y 377 (also Proven9al).
Quer homme n'y vaut un bouton, CI. d'Am.y 1169. Apollin ne
prise mes valiant un bouton, St. Auhariy 334. Je ne donroie un
bouton I D'amors ne de sa fiert^, Gillebert de Berneville (Trouv.
beiges), p. 89. Ne donnas-ge deus boutons, R. Rose, p. 321.

elide [= burr ?] : Ne gyffe i noghte a elide, Oct., 779 (NE.). Of
al Fraunce 3af nou^t a cleete (1377), Pol. Poems y i. 217, [' A piece
of wood,' Wright ; ' burdock,' S-B.]

Exact equivalents in OFr. I have not yet found.

cod: I telle not worjje a cod, for alle )3i faire is faynt, R. B.,
Ch. (ed. Hearne), p. 289.

Cf. alie = * gousse d'ail.' Que I'escus de son col ne li vaut une
alie, I Ni li haubers del dos une pume porrie, AymoUy p. 48. Qui
vaille point la monte d'une alie, Mort Garin, 2080. Mes ce ne li
valut la monte d'unne alie, A. N. Ch., iii. 189.

com: Nought but the mountance of a corn of whete, Ch.,
Pr. T.y 402.

Trestout estoit bien ; D'Angloys ne leur train | Ne me challoit
grain, Martial de Paris, Vig. de Chart. VI I. , fo 23*^, ed. 1493 (God.,
who gives many other examples),

(cherry) stone : Thereof give Y nought a chirston, G. of W.,
p. 367, V. I? [H.].

Ne prisa a une cerise, Lives Ed. Conf, p. 116. Ne valt mie
une pifere, Fab., ii. 249.

//. ADVERBIAL PHRASES OF NEGATION 29

cress : For anger gayneff the not a cresse, Pearl, 29,
Wisdom and witte now is nou^t worth a carse, P. PL, B. x. 17.
Of paramours ne sette he nat a kers, Ch., MiL 7!, 568.

Cf., Et si ne prise pas ii. mauves (= mallow) | Homme ne femme,
Fad., ii. 49. Que grant cols de perre cornue | Ne prise un ramet
de cegug, Best, Rich., 1662. Ne pris pas un rain de segue
(= parsley, hemlock), Ruteb., ii. 197 (L.). Tout le sang li remue |
Out de ris ne de jeu ne cure une latue, Bekker, Fragments y p. 15 (S.).
Ne laira Alixandre ki vaille une laitue, Alexan, (Altx.), 6.

dice: Ne neuer dere hym a dyse with no dede efte, Destr, Tr„ 808.

Sire, ce dit Bertran . . . visez-vous k Tavoir ? Je n'y acompte
un d^, GuesCj 15930 (14 cent., L.). Qu'il n'a lessie vaillant .i. as|
Fors de ces murs, Chev, au Z., 3885. N'eut de tut Engleterre qui
valsist un seul as, Th, le mart,, 113 (L.).

drop: No drope of favour hight, Ch., C of L,, 319.

Soleil n'i luiet, n'i cort goute de vent, Prise dOr., 463. Juifs
qui ne voient goute | En nostre loi, God. de P., 3005. A negation in
frequent use.

egg: J>is lond nis worj) an ay, Trist., 3167.

N en ai du vaillant un oef pele, Char, de Ny., 428 (also Pro-
ven9al). Tot I'altre ne prisent un oef, Eneas, 800. Que ne prise
home qui soit .1. oef pele, Auheri, 4, 9. Icist conseil ne vealt
un oef, Adam, p. 48. Que tiele creance ne valt un eof, Man,
Peck,, 1 116. Ne plus que por .i. oef de quaille, Fab., iv. 174.

farthing (groat, penny) : Eche jer a thousand marc. & nou^t
a ver)>ing lasse, R. G., Ch., 10432. That can noht a ferthing
worth of god, unnethe sing a masse, Fd. II., Pol. Songs, p. 328.
That in her coppe was no ferthing sene | Of grece, Ch., Prol. C, T,,
134. With-held he nouth a ferjjinges nok, I/av,, 820.

The figurative use of coins in OFr. is very common. Florin,
maille, angevin, paresis, denier, besant, sol, tartre, are the chief coins
employed, for which farthing, groat, penny, are the general equi-
valents in MidE. : Tute lur lei un denier ne lur valt, Ch. de P.,
3338 (also Proven9al). En la bataille deit estre forz e fiers, | O
altrement ne valt quatre deniers, ib., 1879. Ja n'aurez des nor-
mailz vaillant vn sul denier, Pou, 2231. Ne vaut le cercle un
denier mon^e, Alesc, 11 15. Asaus n'i valt la monte d'un denier,
Mort Garin, 4367. Mfes tu es morz, n'en dorroie un denier, Cour,
Z., 143. II n'i laissa vaillissant un denier, Mort Garin, 4360.
Li turneiz d'her | N'amunte pas a un dener,ij^., 5357. Ne tint plet
ke vaille un dener, Josaph,, 304. Ne se puet grever .ii. deniers,
Fab*, ii. 259. Ne pris .i. seul denier vaillant, ib», ii. 101/ Ne
vaudroit-il pas deus deniers, R, Rose, ii. p. 95. n*en prendrai
une maille, Jr., i. 140. De moi n'enportera qui valle | .i. sol
sterlint n'une maalle, ib., i. 189. Mar i perdra vaillant une
maaille, Cour, Z., 2372, 2394, 2418. Onques de 11 n'aprirent

30 FRENCH ELEMENTS IN MIDDLE ENGLISH

maillie ne denr^e, Berte^ 2486. Ke nesun de tuz al fel vaut un
maille, PoL Songs, p. 294. N'a vfeve feme vaillant un angevin,
Caur, Z., 156. Ne perderoie vaillant un angevin, Mort Garin, 13.
Ne li valut vaillant un angevin, tb., p. 6, also 4688. Onques n'en
eut del nostre vaillant une angevine, Elie, 898. As autres biens
qui sont forains | N'as-tu pas vaillant deux florins, R, Rose, 5354
(variant). Que tu n'avoies pas vestu | Vaillant .iii. sols, Fad., ii.
259. Mais ainc n'en vorrent prendre la monte d'un soller, Ber/e,
133. Par Mahomet! ne vaus un romoisin, Prise (fOn, 15 13.
Tu puisses conquerre vaillant .i. paresis, £h'e, 161. Moult
a ocis de Turs et de Persanz | Mhs ne li monte le pris de .ij.
besanz, Aiesc, 16 (also Provencal). Se il aidoit au due la monte
d*un besant, Aymon^ p. 5, p. 1 9. De si faite vantise ne donroie un
besant, PoL P., i. 21. N'avez mie ensanble | Qui vaille .x. tornois
clavez, Fab,f iii. 60. Qui ne valurent une tartre, R, Rose, 13426.

flsather : Or ]7at acounted conscience at a cokkes fetber or an
hennes, P, PL, B. xix. 10.

Ne li haubers la plume d'un poucin, En/. Og., 5954. Cf.
Proven9. Shavian col de ferr o d'acier | Nols valria une pluma de
pan [= peacock's feather], P. Vidal, Dragoman (S.). lis ne criement
I'assaut, le creste de 11. cos, Alexand. (fiaL des Grecs), 363.

fig : Ffor ]?is ilke resoun : nys noujt wor}? a fyge, BarL and Jos.,
974 [H.].

Tu ne sez vaillant une figue, Fab., i. p. 5. (Also Provencal.)

fern : No jaf he ther of nou3t a feme, A. and M., 8866.

Que li haubers ne vaut une espanifere | Nd li escuz le rein d'une
feuchi^re, Alesc, 640. Ne li valut la targe une espanifere, | La
vielle broigne, le rain dune fochifere, Alesc, 1687.

flUe [ = chervil, wild thyme] : Vor icham of kinges icome &
})0U nart worJ> a fille, R. G., Ch., 2722. Anuge hire worJ> a fille,
St. Mark., 146. Ac, \o he was henne idrive, hit uas not worJ> a
fille, Patr. 572 in A. E. L. ed. Horstmann, p. 202 [H.].

French equivalents are analogous : mauve, glai, ctgui', seu[=^
sureau], &c. A cesti n'en savons la montance d'un glai, Berte, 1390.

flower (roseflower) : They woll not giue a rose floure, PoL P.,
i. 326.

Dont li menor ne prisent tot le mont une flor, Alexand. {Assauf),
21. Car ne vaut lur poisance un butun d'eglenter, SL Aub., 167 1.

fly, gnat. Ywys no^t worj) a flye, R. G., Ch., 8815. We
wolde nought gyue two flyes, R, Coeur de L., 2502 (Web.) [H.].
Aleyn. answerd, * I count it nat a flye,' Ch., Rev. T., 272. And all
thaire fare nojt wurth a flye, (Minot) PoL P., i. 59.

Ne valent mhs ti cop un haneton, Cour. Z., 1052. Beax fils, ne
pris un henneton | losange n'amor de bricon. Fab. et Cont.
.(Barbazan), ii. 65.

//. ADVERBIAL PHRASES OF NEGATION 31

fonk [ = spark] : pat was not worth a fonk, R. B., Ch,, Hearne,
i. 172 (ed. 1825).

Ne espandi ni rai ne XwmQxtySLAubm, 255. Cf. *blenk/ Mueur,' q.v.

glove: Bot til unskil noght worth a glove, C. M. (Cot) 26991.

Jk de la moie n'auroiz plain un gant, Char, de Ny,y 626 (also
Proven9al). Unkes 11 granz servise ne li valut un gant, Rou^ 2022.
Ne valt la coiffe un viez gant descosu, Alesc,^ 127 1. Sanz lui ne
pris ma vie un gant, G, de -P., 2800. Que je ne pris mie un gant,
R, u. P.f iii. 14, 40, Ne feroie pour Karles la montance d'un gant,
Aymon, p. 19.

gnat : Nought worth to the as in comparisoun | The mountauns
of a gnat, Ch., Man, T,, 150. Such matters be no worth a gnatte,
Pol P.y i. 317. See * fly, gnat/

grain : Get no greyne of his grete wittis, P, PLy (B.) x. 139.

Ce ne vaudroit un grain de poivre, R, Rose, i. p. 192. See * corn/

groat : I uolde sette at al this noyse a grote, Ch., 7r. a» Cr,, 558.
And not to grucchen a grott | Ajeine Godis sonde, PoL P,, i. 370.
See ' farthing/

gru = atom? or more probably OFr. gru= grain, q. v. 'les
bles, orges, grus, pois, feves' (God.), 1391. Cf. Du Cange, grust
(14 cent.), grutum, grudum, malted grain. I schal gruch )>e no grwe,
G, and (z. JT., 2 45 1 . And not one grue lenger, De Erk, ,319. And
of )>e godness of God nojt a grew traisted, Alex, (Ashm.), 3270 [H.].

hair: That nis worth one of hire heare, O, and N,, 1548.
Helpeth nou^t to heueneward one heres ende, P, PL, (B) x. 334.

Ne prise pas une cheuele | Quant que li ai dit ne promise,
Ste, Marg., 116.

haw : Bi men of religion, and al nas wur)> an ha we, R. G.,
Ch,, 10767. Of alle ]?ine mite ne yeued ho word an hawe,
Meid, Marg., 70, in A. E, L,, N. F., ed. Horstmann, p. 491 [H.].
Bote Jjat availede not an hawe, Alex,, 581. But al be of j^e newe
aget, hit is not wor)> an hawe, A Disp,, 282.

Nel prisast il une cenele, Cligis, 6634. Onques nel sorporta
vaillant une chenele, Elie^ 2 1 1 1 .

hay : It be nought worth a hotel hay, Ch., Mane, ProL, 1 4.

Cf. ' botteler du foin,' ' botte de foin.' Vnc ne dutai chaste!
plus qu'un muilun de fein, Wace, Rm, ii. 497.

hen : He jaf not of that text a pulled hen, Ch., Prol, C, T,, 177.
Arrogaunce is not worth an hen, Ch., W, of B, T,, 256. Her
estate is not worth a hen, R, of R,, 6858.

Cf., Nel puet tenir haubers ne c'uns poults, Bu, de C, 3541.
* pulled/ which has been a crux, is well explained by a corre-
sponding use of in French. Cf. ' Pois pilez/ peu de chose
(Oudin) (La C). Je me tieg a pois pilez, Poet, av. 1300, ii. p. 835
(La C). Cf, also * oef pele/ Char, de Ny., 428.

32 FRENCH ELEMENTS IN MIDDLE ENGLISH

herring : Hit nere on ende wrj> on heryng, Luve R,, 86 ; EETS.
45, P- 95 [H.].

Qu*il n'ont pas vaillant une sfeche, R, Rose^ ii. p. 17. Que je ne
pris sa franchise une truite, Machault, p. 89. Je n'ai vaillant une
vendoise, Barbazan, Fab, et ConLy iv. 480 (S.).

hip : Of hem ne yive I nowt an hepe, Seven Sages, 2535 (Web.)
[H.]. Cf. ' rose (^glantier) flower/ and Proven9., No s prezaria un
aguiien, Pierre d'Auvergne, Chantarat,

herbs (panier of) : I counte nokght a panyer ful of herbes | Of
scole termes, Ch., Mar. 7*., 324. OFr, expressions are analogous.

jane (Genoese coin) : Ay ful of clappyng, dere y-nough a jane,
Ch., CL r., 61. Cf. 'farthing/

leaf, ivy-leaf: That all nis worth an yvy lefe, Gower, Con/,
Aman,, P. ii. p. 21, 14 [H.].

Ne li valut pas une rueille d'iere, En/, Og., 5439. Tout ce ne
prise Berte une fueille de mente [= mint], Berte, 2685. Cor ne
sevent sans lui le montant d'une fuelle, Alexan. {MaL d'Altx.),
106. Ne vaut ... la fuelle d'un s^u (elder), Alesc, 6473. * J^o
ne me pris/ dist Rou, une fuille de col, Wace, Rou, ii. 347.

leeky leek's blade: Thi voyage es noht worth a leke, MeL
Hom,^ Sm., p. 54, 1. 10 [H.]. Sche seyde: *My lyf ys not wor]>
a lek/ OcLy 13 13 (SE). And seyde, they yeven noght a leek, Ch.,
H. o/F,, 1708.

N'i avez vaillant une cive, R. Rose, i. 177. Vaillant un ail, ib,,
72 ; God. de P., 3094. Qu'il ne vaut 1. pourrit ognon, Machault,
(EuvreSy p. 82.

' leek's blade ' : Ys not worth a lekys blade, Child, 0, Br., 8
(Hazl., p. 1 1) [H.]. Cf. use of brin, festu, paile, for * blade/

* leekes clof. Clove = gousse d'aie = aillie, alie ; Des or ne pris
mes un alie, Wace, Nicholas, 1257. N'i dorroie une alie, Ch. de
Ny,, 1307. See * cod.'

louse : Him semede it nas nogt wor)> a lous | Bateyl wy}? him
to wage, Ferumb., 439.

OFr. parallel not noted ; cf. turd.

mite [= small copper coin of Flanders, La C] : Thomas, that
jape is not worth a myte, Ch., Sompn. T,, 253; K, Tale, 700.
Schal no deuel at his def)-day deren him worJ> a myte, P. PL, A.
viii. 54. Thy mendez mountez not a myte, Pearl, 30, 3.. Never
to weld of worldes mer}?e J?e worj) of a mite, Wm, 0/ P., 2017.
Half a mite, ib., 5348.

. Le renclus a un povre hermite | U il n'avoit tite ne mite [1288],
Ren, le Nou., 7607, Mdon (God.). Mes tu n'as vaillant quatre
mites, R. u. P., iii. 60, 68. See also OFr. equivalents under
* farthing.'

mote: pa3 no schaft mugt J^e mountaunce of a lyttel mote,

//. ADVERBIAL PHRASES OF NEGATION 33

vpon \>2X man schyne, Pa.^ 456. pat no man mi3t of hem finde
a mot, Body and Soul, 163.

Cf. OFr. neg. mie ( < micam), crumb, small particle.

needle : Soche willers witte is not worth a nelde, Po/. P., i. 327.

Fors le Mans n ot plus une aguille, G. Guiart, MS. fol. 9 R**
(La C). Son paVs ne proisse une agulle, (1243) Mouskes,
Chronique, 17056.

nut: He ne yaf a note of his oJ>es, Hav,, 419. Haue Jjou
nouth ]?er-offe douthe | Noulh f>e worth of one nouthe, 1331.

Ne mei ne riens qui a mei teigne | Lo vaillissant d une chas-
taigne, Trote, 16851. Que tout ce ne vaut une nouiz, Boron,
Graal, 1930. Ne prisent une noiz de coudre [= walnut] | Bone
amor ne sa seignorie. La Poire, 1260. Que le vaillant d'une
castaigne | De vos moebles ne vos remaigne, A.N, Ch,, iii. p. 45
(also Proven fal). Ne pris tant ne quant | Ne q'une noisete, R, w.
-P., ii. 71, 59. Li Escuiers ii nois ne prise | Tout ce . . „ Fab., ii. 55.
Car ne prisoit pas une amande, ib,, iv. 137. II ne donroient de
vo danger .ii. nois, Auberi, 27, 4.

oyster : But thilke text held he nat worth an oistre, Ch., ProL

c. t:, 182.

Suggested by : Car ne prisent le munde la montance d'une oistre,
Jean de Meun, Testament, ed. M^on, 1167.

pan: The begger that the crust ssal hab, | Wei hokerlich he
lokith theran : | Soth to sigge, and nojt to gabbe, | Rijt nojt he is
i-paiid a pan, PoL S., p. 204 (0« the Time),

Hein treats 'pan' under ' Geratschaften und telle derselben.'
This is rather panne, AS. panne < L. ? patina, of which see
pumerous examples in S-B. But pan(e) < OFr. pan{e), panne
< L. pannus = piece, patch, garment, pane, and so is used in
a parallel way with : Ausi le trenche com .i. pan de cendal, y4//^^r/',
219, 14. Ausi li trenche com i. pan de burel, ib,, 225, 31. Ne
li volut la targe une espani^re, Alesc, 1687. Ausi li ront com un
pant d'auqueton, ib., 6754. The expression may, however, be
simply OFr. k pan, thoroughly.

pear: For euery gadlyng not wurj> a pere, R. B., Hand. S.,
769. And al thaire pomp n03t worth a pere, Pol, P., i. 59 (Minot).
It shulde not apeire him a peire, i. 372. Ne schalt j?ow
lese nojt ]>e worthy of a pere, Ferumb., 5721 [H.]. I charge it
not a pere, P, of Sus., 247.

Tot ce ne pris une poire porrie, Mort Garin, 2075. La mort
ne crains ny enfer une poire, Les Marg. de la Marg., f. 66 (La C).
Que ja n i aura gaaingni^ | A son oes vaillant une poire. Fab.,
iii. 42.

pease r A pese nys worth thi riche slander, Alis. (B), v. 5959
[H.]. Al )>is worldes blisse | Nis nout worj? a peose, Body and
Soul, 241. And sain, the pope is not worth a pease, Pol. P., i. 339.

c

34 FRENCH ELEMENTS IN MIDDLE ENGLISH

Vostre escondit n'i vaut un pois, Tr., i. 40. Qu'el abatist de
Telme tant | ki amontast un peis pesant, Eneas, 4433. Eureues
ont perdu, n*i prist vaillant vn peis, Wace, Ron, ii. 4144. Tu ne
sai pas vaillant un pois, Fab., i. 6. Ne . . . deus chiches, R, Rose, i.
p. 324. Que Tescus ne Tauberc ne li valent .i. pois, Aymon, p. 76.
Ge nepriseroie trois chiches, R, Rose, i. 230. N'il nedoit or prisier
ii. chiches, Machault, p. 103.

penny: Nolde ich yeven enne peni for his weden alle, ReL
Songs, p. 71.

For French equivalents see under * farthing.'

pie-hele [ = pie-crust] : I nolde ^eve for }?i pardoun one pije
hele 1 P. PI. (A), viii. 181. (B), pies hele.

Cf., Ne mie ne croste = rien du tout, Jeh. des Preis, in God.
Souffrir ne veult qu'il en ait crote, ou mie, Eust, Desch., Pofis.
Mss., fol. 44 (La C.). De tel noblece ja deux miches | Ne don-
nassent se I'avoir n'eussent, Ch, de Pisan (God., miche = miette).
This use of mie has remained in Normandy. Lor gens n'i valu
L gastiel, Ph. Mouskes, 168 13. Note, however, that OFr. pie =
un rien : N'ot pas une pie, Jeh. des Preis, in God. Li haubers
de sen dos ne li vaut une pie, Alexand, {Bat, des Grecs), 112.

pilling [ = bark] : He sett |>e lawes of Cristj antee nott at a
pillynge of a tree, Row, and Oi„ 129.

Ne prisids trestout une escorce, R, Rose, i. 256 (also Proven9al).
Qu'il ni prisent fust ne escorce. Ph. Mouskes, Ch,, 12832.

pin: pou spekest not worth a pynne, Ch., C, of L,, 1078.
O, said he, noe matter a pin what they preache, Comp, v. Cons,,
117 [H.].

Qui onques n'i conquesterent la montance d'une pine, Gesie des
dues de Bourg,, p. 260 (Chron. belg.) (God.).

point, prick: Was nojt a poynt to })at fairnes, Pr, of C, 8700.
That in so mekyll fayrenes forgete | That ne hade poynte of
prowes sete, Ip., 693. Off dede was not a poynte to }?is, ib,, 3852.
Ne mei nout gon furSer a pricke. A, R,, 228.

Mais li cuers lui failloit, ou n'ot point de faintise, Berte, 805.
Sans point de delaie, Fab,, i. 235. Qu'il n'est point de chalaunge,
Pol, Songs, Bel Eyse, 49. This is, of course, the most usual
emphatic negation in OFr.

rake's steel: But that tale is not worth a rake's stele, Ch.,
W, ofB, T., 93.

Cf., N'i ai conquis vaillant un fer de lance, Ch, de J\y,, 278,
Qui n'a argent. Ton n'en tient compte | Nem plus que d'une
vieille pelle. Dialogue du Mondain, cited by Roquefort, Gloss., ii.
p. 232 (S.). Ne I'enpira vaillant un esperon, Cour, Louis, 1052 ;
Wace, Rou, ii. 1697.

rush : Heo J>at ben Curset in Constorie— connte]? ... not at a

//. ADVERBIAL PHRASES OF NEGATION 35

^ussche, P, PL (A.), iii. 137. Ne doute)? he kynd or Emperour
}?e value of a ryssche, Ferum,, 124. No more for the faire fole,
then for a rissh rote, Av, o/A., 552.

Ne li valut un jonc marage, G, de P., 6617.

scale, shell : J>aire spectre is nojt worf) a shele, C, M, (F.), 23,
828. In G. note-schell.

Ne li valu 11 haumes une escaille, En/, Og., 5419. Vostre orguel
ne vaut une coque, i?, J^ose, i. 216. Ne prisi^s trestout une
escorce, id,, i. 256.

shoe: It is not worthe an old scho, Debate of Carp, Tools,
182, Haz., Remamsy i. 85 [H.]. For though a widewe hadde
noght 00 schoo, Ch., ProL C, 7!, 253.

Chevaus, or et argent leur fist-on presenter | Mais ainc n'en
vourent prendre la monte d'un Soulier, Berte, p. 9. Ecil li respondi :
Ne me pris une bote | S'ancois ne vois al branc commencier une
note I C'onques encor Bretons ne fist tele en sa rote, Alexand.
{Fuerres), 142.

sloe : This lives blisse nis wurdh a slo, ReL S,, ii. Of me ne
is me nouth a slo, Hav,, 849. Sir, J?er of jiue y nougt a slo,
A, and A., 395.

Que je loi lais vaillant une parnele, Raoul de Camhrai^ 48 (L.).

stick (of bread) 2 We ^eveS uneSe for his luve a sticcke of ure
brede. Poem. Mor,, 191 {O.E, Misc),

Cf., Ne ne le prisera ii. pains. Fab., iii. 158. Li escus de sort
col ne li valu un pain, Rom. Alexandre, p. 164 (S.).

stick, a flr-stick : Was nouth worth a fir sticke, Hav,, 966.

Par foi n'i donroie une bille | Ce dit Tibert, en els n'en tof,
Roman de Renart, iii, p. 31 (S.). A dont ne le prise une bille,
Fab,y iii. 56. N'i prisent fust ne escorce, Ph. Mouskes, Ch,, 12832.
Tout ne me vaudrait une bille, R, Rose, i. p. 310. Ne lesserent
une bille, Pol, S,, p. 62. Ne pris . . . un fuisel, Su, de C, 2633.
Une astele, En/. Og,, 5968.

stime ( = glimpse ?) : Nol?er he ete J?wa three dais time | Ne
he iwiss moght see a stime, C. M, (Cot), 19649. Also smite,
in the same sense ; cf. * blenk,' * funk.'

scaloun [onion, ModFr. ^chalote, Eng. shallot] : He seyde, Hy
ner worJ> a scaloun', Oct,, 13 13 (SE.). For thy lyff and thy
barouns | He wyll not geve two skalouns R, Cceur de L,, 6834.

N'en i remaindrat ja pesant une escalingne, PH, de Ch,, 575.
Qu'el n'aime mie un' escaloigne, Fab,, i. 305. Chi ne ferds vous vos
besoigne | Vaillant le pris d'une escaillor\ge, ib., ii. 52 ; En. Og., 5457.

straw: perof ne jaf he nouth a stre, Hav,^ 315. He wold

* Sarrazin explains as * Schilling, nicht bei Stratmann. Vergl. Rich. Cceur de
Lion, y. 6834.* Hein follows Sarraziii's error, classing * scaloun * under * Munze,*
Anglia, xv. 144.

36 FRENCH ELEMENTS IN MIDDLE ENGLISH

nocht pris his liff a stra, Bruce, vi. 505. I sette not a straw by thy
dremynges, Ch., N, P, T,, 270. For he counted not thre strees |
Of nought that Fortune coude do, Ch., Duch,, 718. By his sare
set he noght a stra, and G,y 2685.

La veille broigne ne li valut un paile, Cmr, Z., 909. Ne don-
roient de moi la monte d'un festu, Berte, 1293. Ki n*ot cure de
leur desrois | Ne qui lor grevast uns festue, Mouskes, fol. 81 (La C ).
Par mi son elme, m^s n'enpire un festu, Aksc.y 310. Mais ne lor
vaut lor forche valissant festu, Eh'e, 789. L'entreprise qu'il
maintient ne m'est un seul brin agr^able, £>om, F/or, de Grece,
fol. 137 (La C).

tare : Ne sette I nought the monntance of a tare, Ch., K, Tale,
713, Of al here art ne counte I nat a tare, Ch., Reves T,, 136.
ModFr. ivrate was not used before 1 6th cent. (L.), but another sort
is vesce, see * vetch,'

thread : Nes j?e }>wong noht swiSe braed : | buten swulc a twines
}?r3ed, La^.y 14220.

Que vos ne troverez des mois | Conte, prince ne chasteleine |
Qui vos forface un fil de leine, Rom, de Ren,, 10844.

turd: A tort ne jiue ich for ow alle, O. and N., 1684. Thy
drasty rymyng is not worth a tord, Ch., Pr, to MeL, 12.

OFr. equivalents I have not found — the absence is significant.

twinkling, wink: Ne lasteth not the twynkelyng of an eye,
Ch„ Camp. 0/ M., 222.

Esvanouir ^ un clin d'oeil, Pasq., Rech.^ iii. xxix. (God.).

twynte = iota ? And tymed no twynte but tot'led her cornes,
Rich, Red., iii. 81 [H.].

French equivalents cannot be adduced until the meaning of
twynte is established.

vetch : This seyde is bi hem that ben nought worth two fecches,
Ch., Tr, and Cr„ 887.

Ne li lairai de tiere valiant un grain de vecce, Le Roman d' Alex-
andre, p, 412 (L., suppl.).

wing (goosewing): pei ne gyueth nougte of god one goose
wynge, P, PI, {B), iv. 36.

Cf., One vaillant Vhle d'un pingon | N'oi je voir, se de Tautrui non,
Rom, de Renari, 13035. Ne je ne pris un bee de jay, Machault,
(Euvres, p. 7.

. Chronology. The close concord of MidE. with French, even
as late as 1400, at which date I cease quotations, is remarkable,
and, considering the infinite number of objects which might have
been drawn on, if English had pursued an independent course, a sure
proof of the influence of OFr. This agreement is still more
Striking if we view the parallel expressions chronologically. I limit

//. ADVERBIAL PHRASES OF NEGATION

37

the English lists at (a) 1250, (b) 1300, (c) 1350. By 1350 the
native genius had achieved full consciousness of its own individuality,
and the language become a conscious artistic medium. The in-
vention of new negative phrases is henceforth a matter of rhetoric.

(a) English examples 1 200-1 250, and earlier French parallels:
fille, Mark,] c. 1150, cf. feuchfere, Alesc, hawe, Meid, Mark.;
c. 1165, cenele, Clig^s, Elie, heryng, Luve R,) 1 100-1300,
vendoise, Fabliaux] 1277, seche, R, Rose, sloe, Oris.\ 12 cent.,
parnele (= prunelle), Raoul de C, stick of bread, Poem, Mor, ;

12 cent., pain, Alexandre; 11-13 cent., pain, in Fabliaux, thread,
Laj. ; c. 1 200, Rom, d, Ren,

I omit handhwiU given by Hein, as having no figurative value. .

(b) English examples 1 250-1 300, with earlier French parallels:
1 250-1300, here, O, and N,\ ist third of 12 cent., chevele, Vie de
Marg, c. 1 280, fir stick, Hav, ; c. 1 263, bille, PoL S, c. .1 280, straw^
Hav,\ c. 1150, paile, Cour, L, c. 1280, note, Hav.', c. 1260,
castaigne. La Poire, 12 75-1 300, groat, Kind, Jes,) c. 1150,
maille, Cour, Z. ; c. 1080, denier, Ch, de R, 1 250-1300, penny,.
Relig, S.\ c. 1 1 50, angevin, Cour, L, c. 1280, farthinges i>ok,
Hav, ; c. 1150, maille, Cour, L, 1 250-1 300, tort, O, and N,

From Hein's list I except * foot,' as a measure of space, devoid
of figurative value; and 'twinkling' as not used negatively in
extant literature before Chaucer.

(c) English examples 1300- 13 50, with earlier French parallels :
c. 1 300, flye, R, T, \ c. 1 1 50, haneton, Cour, L, 1 303, gloue,
C, M, ; c. 1 1 50, gant, Alesc, ; Rou, 1320-30, botoun, G,of W,\
c. 1 1 50, bouton, Clef ^ A, 1320-30, brustle, R, a, Vern, ; before
1236, poil, pelet, de Coinci. c. 1340, clete, Oct, NE. ; (no OFr.
parallel noted). 1320-30, feme, A, and M,\ c. 11 50, fouchbre,
Alesc, c. 1338, cod, R. of Brunne, Ch,\ 12 cent., alie (of
garlic), Mori Garin, c. 1300, bene, R, G,\ 1225-40, feve,
poems of Thibaud; 1160-74, peis, Rou, 1320-1330, ay (egg),
Trisi, ; ist third of 12 cent., oef, Ch, de Ny, 1303, shell, C, M. ;
1167-1200, escaille,Z«/a«r^j 6jf/<fr. c. 1340, scaloun, Oct,\ c, 1060,
escaligne, PU, de Ch, 1320-30, hepe, Seiien Sages \ 1236-
50, cf. butun d'eglenter, St, Aub, -1350, pese, Body and
Soul; 1160-74, peis, Rou, Beg. of 14 cent., pan, On the Time;

13 cent., pan, Auberi. c. 1340, mite, Wm, of P,; 1288, mite,
Ren, le Nouv, c. 1338, fonk, R. B., Chronicle; 12 cent., lueur,
Cov, Vivian, 1340-8, point, Pr, of Con, \ 12 cent., point,
1320-30, cherry-stone, G,ofW,; 11-13 cent., pierre, Fab,\ cerise,
Lives Ed. Conf. 1303, stime, CM,; 12 cent., cf. lueur, goutte,
etc., Cov. Vivian, 1303, smitte, C, M,; 1303, blenk, ib,\ 12
cent., lueur, Cov, Vivian, 1310-30, wynk, Met, Hom, ; clin d'oeil,
Pasq. 1320-30, lekes clofe, G,ofW,; ist third of 12 cent., alie,
Ch, de Ny, 1303, rush, C. M, ; c. 1205, jonc marage, Gu, de P.

38 FRENCH ELEMENTS IN MIDDLE ENGLISH

I omit ' trenchur,' in Hein's list, as not a figurative negative.

Form, In addition to the evidence of content of expression
and the uniform priority in point of use of the French expressions,
there is the evidence of a remarkable agreement in the form of the
negative expressions of MidE. and OFr. : —

I. de worth : (a) Al nas wurth a bene, R. G., Ch,, 10223 ; (b) Ne
vailede him noujt worJ> a botoun, B. of H,, 1004. valotr: (a) S'il
ne valt une bele pume, Ip,, 8407 ; (b) Onques nel sorporta vaillant
une chenele, Elie, 2 1 1 1 .

II. mountance : Nou3ht but Jje mountance of a corn ofwhete, Ch.,
Pr, 7'., 402. montancei Mais ne li vaut la montance d'un pois,
R, de Cambr,^ 339 7«

III. give, &c. : No ^af he ther of noujt a feme, A. and M,, 8866.
donner, &c. : De touz lur manaces ne dorrai un denier, Pol, Songs,
233 (Ed. I.).

IV. Verbs of estimating, such as se/: I sette not a straw by thy
dremynges, Ch., N, P, T,, 270. pn'ser: Ne prisa mais noz deus
k valur d'un gant, S/, Auh,, 1162.

V. As negative expressions limiting verbs of action : Ne he iwiss
moght se a stime, C, M,, 19652. Et gute ne vedeit, Rots, p. 48 (L.).

Negations ofMHG, The almost parallel conditions of MHG. fur-
nish evidence by analogy. For the fifty or sixty figurative negations
of MHG. that Zingerle brings together, exact French equivalents can
in almost every single instance be adduced, and of any earlier date
than the time at which the German expressions occur. * Derartige
Negationen,' says Zingerle, * drangten sich erst gegen das Ende
des 12. Jahrhunderts vor. Friiheren Dichtungen, z. B. dem Alex-
anderliede [c. 1130], der Kaiserchronik [goes to 11 4 7], Wernher's
[t 1266] drei Liedem, u. a. waren sie beinahe noch unbekannt.
Allein selbst im 13. Jahrhunderte, in dem diese bildliche Verstar-
kung ihre gr5sste Verbreitung erlangte, drang sie nicht tiberall
gleichmassig durch. Am zahlreichsten begegnen sie uns bei den
hofischen Dichtern, die dem Beispiele des bewunderten Heinrich
von Vedecke, der selbst solche Bilder (blat, bast, ei) liebte, auch
hierin gefolgt sind,' u. s., p. 477. French influence was, it is well
known, paramount throughout the whole period from the Alexander-
lied, and most effective in the court poetry. Zingerle notes the
geographical distribution of these negations : * In Baiern, Franken,
Schwaben und Osterreich kamen diese bildlichen Verneinungen in
lingeahnter Ftille vor, wahrend sie in Mittel- und Niederdeutsch-
land viel sparlicher sich fanden.' Grimm supposed the German

//. ADVERBIAL PHRASES OF NEGATION 39

influenced the French : ' Mir scheint die ital. und span. Sprache
seien in solchen bildlichen Negationen enthaltsamer als die provenz.
und franzOsische, woher ich wiederum den naheren Einfluss der
deutschen auf letztere anschlagen mttchte/ *Deut. Gramm.,' iii.
750. Instead of that being the case, the character and chronology
of MHG. negations give the strongest grounds for explaining
their origin from the immediate influence of the French.

Conclusion. To resume: On the one hand, Gen. Germanic
strengthened its negation ne by (Goth) (nf-) wafht, < *wihti-,
meaning probably * thing ' (Kluge, Wt'M), AS., at its latest period,
advanced beyond that only to substitute ping for wiht It approached
a true figurative negation only in the term handhwil used affir-
matively: *It is not for you to know the hour or the moment
(fiandhwit) that my Father hath appointed,' Thorpe, Horn, i. 294, 26 ;
and in using f6t with a verb of motion. On the other hand, Latin
possessed these figurative negations in some abundance, which the
Romance languages developed to an immense extent ^ Again, the
character and chronology of MHG. negations, which show a parallel
development with English, point to their French origin, just as the
literature in which they first show themselves has in the main Ro-
mance substance and colouring. Finally, we have the phenomena
of the MidE. negations, (i) that they show themselves slightly in the
early years of the thirteenth century, increasing in number during the
second half, but attaining great variety and power only at the close
of the century and during the first half of the fourteenth century,
being therefore in substantial agreement with the movement of Fr.
loan-words into English ; (2) that, before they begin to occur in
MidE., Norman French swarms with figurative negations ; (3) that
the E. MidE. negations stand in complete agreement of form and, in
spite of the temptation of genius or the caprice of individual writers,
in most substantial agreement of content with OFr. negations :
it is therefore certain, I believe, that our figurative negations are
an immediate result of the paramount influence of OFr. on MidE.
Doubtless the English language of itself could have developed this
form of expression, but — to parallel Dr. Boteler's remark concerning
the strawberry — doubdess the English language never did.

^ Parmi ces negations [i. e. of Latin], quelqaes-unes sont k noter plus sp^ciale-
ment, parce qu'elles semblent etre le germe d*expressions tr^s-analogues, en
grand usage plus tard dans les langues romanes,* Schweighaeuser, p. 206 (vol. of
1851).

III. PHRASAL POWER OF THE PRE-
POSITION: AT-PHRASES

English has shown in its borrowings a special partiality for nice
modifications of verbal notions, especially those in phrasal form.
French i-phrases have been peculiarly acceptable to it, witness the
many adoptions in the modern language : h. bas ! k bras ouvert,
k cheval, h contre-coeur, k discretion, k fond, k la fran^aise, k la
mode, k merveille, k outrance, k propos or apropos, k ravir, &c.
(see the 'Stanford Diet/). In the formative period of English,
OFr. k, possessed of a vast phrasal power, met in AS. set an ineffec-
tive instrument of translation, for the phrasal power of set was far
less extensive, far less subtle. A portion of the phrasal wealth
of k was taken over by 'to,' the usual native equivalent of it,
whenever k conveyed the idea of motion towards. But, on the
other hand, the on-phrases of AS. tended in part to become at-
phrases, doubtless because of the slight phrasal value of OFr. sur,
2^nd the virtual restriction of its notion to position above. In some
cases the OFr. k-phrases seemed to have been passed into MidE.
without change : — d, I'arme : alarme I alarme quaj) )?at Lorde, Lang.,
Pi (C), xxiii. 92. OFr., Si tost c'om crie k I'arme 1 Brun de
la M,j 3075 (God.), t part: Adrow him apart Jeanne and saide,
Sir Ferumb,y 636. And drinke piement and ale apart, Pol. P.,
i. 316. OFr., A done se tirent chascun a part, fiers et esmeus Tung
contre Tautre, Perce/.y iii. f. 5 [La C.]. A une part ont le roi trait,
TV., I. 31. force: pan ffelle it a-fforse to ffille hem a3eyne,
Lang., Rich. Red,^ iv. 21. OFr., L'en a fait k force mener, Jr.,
48. A force ne pr^ist, Wace, Brut^ 331 1« And even & bandon in
the early instance cited below (p. 44). But in the main our language
undertook to assimilate a great part of the phrasal power of k, an
effort furthered, it may be, by the not inconsiderable phrasal use
of ON. at. As a result of this effort we see in MidE. a vast ex ten-

///. PHRASAL POWER OF THE PREPOSITION) 4 1

sion of its plural use, under the stimulus and after the example of
OFr. ^-phrases.

AS. iET. -^t in AS. was confined in use almost entirely to the
expression of nearness in local and temporal phrases. Its uses may
be classified in detail as follows :— i. Nearness in local position »
(i) a. with common nouns: JEi ]?9ere sse l^ran, Marky iv. i. Ac
heora gef^ran aet ham fuhton, iE., Lives , xxv. 455. 3. with proper
nouns: aet M^retune, AS, Ch. (Parker), 871. Idiomatically with
dat. pi..: *8e mon hset set HaetSum/ Oros.^ i. § 19. Cf. * Atterbury '
in MidE. (2) At an occurrence or event, present or participating :
Baed hine blftSne * aet ]?sere b^or-j^ege, Beo,, 618. (3) Indicating
the part of an object affected : Hire aet heortan laeg aeppel unsafelga,
Caed., Gen,y 636 (ned). (4) Indicating the relation of an attribute
to the part affected: Waes s^o tr^ow lufu hdt aet heortan, Chr,^
539 (B-T). (5) Indicating the part or point at which entrance
or exit is effected: pa t6 duru ^odon drihtlfce cempan ond aet
6'5rum durum Ordldf ond GutSlaf, Bat. of Finnib., 14. (6) Attain-
ment of position, with verbs of motion : a, to, — Ge ne comon
aet me, Matt, xxv. 43. h, as far as, — And hine besencton on )5a
fyrenan aet his cneowa, B, Hom,^ p. 43. (7) Motion directed
towards, often with hostile intent : Ne mihton hi dwiht aet me sefre
gewyrcean,/'j. (Th.) cxxviii. i (B-T). DeatSes wylm hrdn aet heortan,
Beo,y 2271. (8) The source from which anything comes, at which
we seek it. Hence especially used with verbs of asking and de*
priving: Ic gebdd grynna aet Grendle, j^^t?., 931. And J^a bysena
J?e hie aet his daedum gesawon, B, Horn., p. 119. Hwaet axast "5u aet
us, M,y Lives, xxv. 112. (9) Hence with * gelang ' to indicate depen-
dence : ^t f)am waes gelang call heora foda, M., Lives, xxiii. 218.
(10) The idea of nearness is conjoined with that of source: paet
deofolseoce aet his reliquium waeron gelacnod, Bede, 14, 26. WeartS
dcweald aet his witena handum, M,y Horn, Ass. St. John, (i i).
The idea of source passes to that of agency (of persons) : Waeron
gemartyrode aet J^am manfullan nero, ^E., Lives, xxix. 116, (12)
The idea of nearness, approach, passes to that of application: paer
hi aet lare waeron, M., Lives, xxix. 10, (13) Hence the destination,
object : Neb bitS hyre aet nytte, Rd., 12, 5. (14) The idea of nearness
involves effect on (= * with respect to ') : ponne hwaej>ere aet j^aere
halgan Elizabet seo hire gebyrd naht gemunan, B. Horn., 163. —
II. Temporal relations. (15) Nearness indicated by words marking
periods of times ; such as, aet ]?a endlyftan tfd J^aes da^ges, B. Horn.,
p. 93; aet f>aem ytmestan daege, ib., p. 51 ; aet sumum cyrre [at
certain season], M., Lives, xxiii. 16; aet sefen, B. Horn., p. 91,
(16) By words indicating a regularly recurring action or state, hence
used as time-marks: aet sunnan setlgange, B. Horn., p. 93 ; aelce
niht aet uhtsange, B. R., 39, 16. (17) By words indicating action
or state : Fylston ^ow aet n^dj^earfe, Deut., xxxii. 28. (18) Or indi-

42 FRENCH ELEMENTS IN MIDDLE ENGLISH

eating a stage in the progress of an action or state : pu us aet ende-
staefe mycel here-reaf geh^te, B. Horn., p. 85 ; set frumsceafte, at the
beginning; set ende, at end. (19) Note here the use of certain
superlatives : And nicdnor set fruman feoll )?aer ofslagen, M», Lives^
XXV. 632. And het 8a set nextan f>a haeSenan cwelleras . . . ingan,
xxiv. 61. -^t ^restan, Laws of K, Alf., pol. i. And nti
set sfSestan sylfes feore | b^agas gebohte, Beo.y 3014. (20) Here
belongs a superlative of extent [cf. 6 3] : JEi laestan 1. scyj)a, ^.S*.
Ch,t 1049.

MidE. at in new phrasal uses. I. Conformity to ones will,
pleasure i judgment , ^r. At will : Weder stod at wille, Laj., iii.
12, 19 (2nd text) ; first text (native English), on wille. Wind stot
ate wille, La^., i. 47 (2nd text) ; first text, an willen. And in hir
armes weld him at hir wille, Ch., Monkes T,, 272.

Pur bien manger e h, talent, PoL Songs, Bel Eyse, 57. Ja rien ne
voldrat | n'ait a volenti, Reimpr,, § 106. Avoyent vent et temps
k lour volunte, Fr, Ch. Lond,, p. 76. Fist couper a sa volenti,
fos., 1624. E eurent vent ^ souhait, Tr,, i, i. 6.

at avis: \>ty diden alle at his auys, R. B., Ch., 2739. Off
best shall ye haue | Chosse at your own avyce, Ipom., 3750. Wyl
je do all6* at my rede. Hand. S., 949.

Por lui morrai, au mien avis. Rose, 4135 (God.). A mon entende-
ment, Bu. de C, 571. Que' a lur cunseil femme prendra, M. de
Fr., Le Fr., 339.

AS. used sefter: ^fter d6ma Sfnum gelfffsesta me, Secundum
judicium tuum vivifica me, Ps., Lamb., cxviii. 149.

at devioe : Nother to softe ne to faste | Bot at his owne devyce,
Ip., 356. And names gaf at J^eir deuis, R. B., Ch., 224. And
seruyd f)e quene at hyr devyse, II. Ipom., 716 ; Bruce, iv. 264.

Si tu vius faire a mon devis, Ogier, 113 10 (God.). Tut ert fet
a ma devise, /i?^., 1248 ; Boron, Graal, 34. Tut besoine unt fait
a devise, Lives of Ed. Conf, Rolls s., p. 26.

at pay, liking : When ]?ey had chosen at f>er pay, R. B., Ch.,
1299. And do weile mare at my lyking, Scot. Leg., Pet., 276.

Et s'il estoit i son plesir | Vos k prendre, Tr., 1. 108. Ont le
bois ^ lor talent, ib., i. 85. Ele Ta tut a sun plaisir, M. de Fr.,
Von,, 227. Or put aler seurement | La beste tot a sun talent,
G. de P., 7239. De lor bien dire ^ lor plaisir, Troie, 2009.
Victoire ^ sun desir, Lives Ed. Conf, Rolls s., p. 143.

at gre : For to go at f)i gre, me gaynez non o]?er. Pa., 348.

Jamais ^ gr^ n'en aront pes, Wace, Brut, 529 ; Rou, ii. 4321.
A gre servir e merciSr, M. de Fr., Chai., 28. A sun service e ^
sum gr^ I Seras e i sa volenti, d. N., ii. 6419.

at guise : For he can maken at his owne gyse ... as that him
best devyse, Ch., K. T., ^^i.

///. PHRASAL POWER OF THE PREPOSITION 43

Engleis dient en lur langage | A la guise de lur vsage, Wace,
jRou, i. 103. Cheuals quistrent e armes a la guise franceise,
td,y ii. 555. Arni^s k leur guise, Froiss., i. 34. Chacun h. sa guise,
Cot. Cf. also: Cum ^ custume faire solt, 7r. (Douce 2), ii. 115.
A la custume del pais, M. de Fr., Fbn.j 477.

Late MidE. at my jernynge, S& £g», 104, is OFr. k souhait,
Fad,, iv. no.

I. a. Con/ormtty, hut implying amount, at will : Wellys fele &
water at wyl, A, E, Z., Kindh.J,, 98. He wolde gyve hym land
at wille, R. B., C^, 764 ; Wm, cf P., 1800; II. Ipom,, 416.

Car et poisson eurent plenty | Et bon vin ^ leur volenti, Bl. et
ph,, 4554. Or et argent aura a son plaisir, Mort Garin, 3466.
Tresors vos ert \ raon9on, Troie^ 11699. Comanda qu ele fust
guarde tot \ talent, Fitz FT., p. 38. E eurent vent \ souhait,
TV., i. 6.

AS. usage would require t6 or aefter in this sense: t6 Sfnum
willan, according to thy will.

at one's power, might : In of>er gude werkes doynge, vn-to alle
f)ine even cristene at f)i myghte, R. R. H., Pr, 71, 29. J)att ]:>u beo
swincfuU att tin mahht, Orm,, 4730. And help him at his mycht
lely, Bruce, xx. 349. And at thar mychtis merry mak, Bruce, iii. 190.

Ele me dira sun voleir | E jol ferai a mun poeir, M. de Fr., Eli,,
617. Ne savrifez rien comander | Que ieo ne face a mun poeir,
M. de Fr., Lan,, 124 ; 7r., 2, ii. 32.

The exact equivalent in AS. is on (t6) geweald : He haefde ealle
Asiara on his geweald, Oros,, 28, 29. Haebben hf minne lichaman
to gewealde, JE., Lives, xxiii. B, 356. Cristene men drehte swa
he swiSost mihte, ib,, xxiii. 194.

I. h. Conformity, hut implying a standard, at measure : And
portrait weill at all mesure, Bruce, x. 281.

M^s parlez .1. poi k mesure, CheVi de la Ch,, p. 47; Ch, d, N,,
ii. 13569. Faites ^ mesure et k point, Fah,, i. 329. Tailliez fu
bien k sa mesure, Troie, 1807. Qe sisterent \ mesure, Pierre de
L., ii. p. 428. A desmesure, M. de Fr., Mil,, 128.

Cf. AS. : Put J)u symle be J?inre mae8e g6d gefremme, -SI., Lives,
xii. 148.

at degree(8) : So fair so good at all degree | Was non levand to
her, Ip,, 179 ; ib., 8873. And seide, * I am a lord at alle degrees,'
Ch., Mil T,, 536.

Te rois mounta tout k son ayn degr^, Pierre de L., ii. p. 430.

at witting, knowing : I wra]?J)ed J)e neuere, at my witand, Ps,
of S., 250. By Cry St, at my knowynge, | Mede ys worthy, P, PI,
(C), iv. 285.

Mfes gie quit au mien escient | Que n'i serra pas longuement,
Troie^ 1497. Et tut a sci^nt, Reimpr,, ii. § 49. Que Deus fist tel

44 FRENCH ELEMENTS IN MIDDLE ENGLISH

a escient, Cltg/Sy 822; Brut, 3529; M. de Fr., Chai,, 130. Non
au mien escient de Ik jusques en Gale, Berte, 738 ; Aymotiy^, 19;
R, Rose, i. p. 303. Au mien espeir, Trote, 5719.

at point, at all point(s) : Certas at po) nt, and debonar, Bruce,
X. 283. He was arayit at poynt clenly, ib., vi. 406. At all
poynt armyt weill and dicht, ib,, xvi. 374. & algate alisaundrine,
at alle poyntes hem served, Wm, of P., 1064. At alle maner
poyntes, tb., 3278, 3332.

Et je irai la chose tout k point aprester, Ber/e, 575. Qui join-
drqnt as pi^s si k point | Que de fronce n'i aura point, R. Rose, ii.
92. Toute la cose k point lor vint, Fab., iv. 26. Car il fet tout
a point e a ligne e a rieule e a plounc e a livel, Lprenz, p. 59.

at point device : With lymes wrought at poynt deuys, Rom, of
Rose, 830. That saw in drems, at point devys | Helle and
erthe, and paradys, Ch., H. of F,, 917. And hym arrayeth gay,
at point devys, Ch., Mill. T,, 503.

Mr. Skeat, 'Etymol. Diet/, p. 453, regards this phrase as a trans-
lation of OFr. k point devis, in which devis is p.part., devised,
imagined. But OFr. deviser means to determine (al jor devis, on
the day set), plan, and not imagine. Unfortunately, too, 1 find no
instance of the occurrence of k point devis, though it probably was
used— cf., Lors ont la chose tout k point devisee, Enf Og., 177.
It is evident that the original sense is exactly, perfectly ; cf. * at
point * and * at device ' < h devis, exactly, — Nof cenz e dosze ans
^ devise, Ch. d. N., 6858. Si vus dirai tot a devise, Trote, 307.

II. Subjection to, under the control of, guided by : at abandon :
To beon moder of swich sune ... & habben him so abaundune,
Ureisun God Al,, 203 (ned). Leyr was al at f>er bandoun, R. B.,
Ch,, 2385.

Molt par li a ^ bandon mis | Or et argent et vair et gris, TV., i.
1 40. Ele a les sajes et les fos outr^ement a sun bandon, R, Rose,
1046. Le fruit des arbres lors m^is k bandon, Cour, L., 977.

at (one's) will : Att thy wille )5ou woldyst vs have, V. and V,,
1983. And for to hauen alle at his cri, | At his will, at his merci,
Hav,, 270. Haue alle f)ing at my will, A, E. L,, Amb,, 471. Dude
hem hoppe for hope to haue me at wille, P, PI, (A), iii. 193.

Trestot met a ta volenti, G, de P,, 8270. Kant ad baron a
volente. A, et A,, *]2d^,

at (one's) mercy : And for to haue alle . . . at his mercy, Hav., 270.

Venqus sui, k ta merci vien, Wace, Brut, 8123. Et plus tost a
merci vendras, R, Rose, 1898. II n'est nule qui si tost mete | A
merci dame ou damoisele, ib., 1836. A mis^ricorde, Mouskes,
3847.

at command, bidding, request : We be at )?i comaun dement,
Ass. Mar,, 232. Sai, a seide, icham at hire heste, B. of H., 145.

///. PHRASAL POWER OF THE PREPOSITION 45

At my bode, Pa.^ 134. We haf heir with vs at byddyng | Weill
threty thousand men and ma, Bruce, xi. 279. That sche walde
be at his commaundement, Ch., Mt7I, T., 106. At request and
prayere, Ch., JK, T,, 346. Cf. also, He hadde wenches at his
retinue, Ch., Fr. T'., 57.

Mult le deit servir e amer | e estre a sun comandement, M. de
Fr., Gmg.y 494. Tute est a sun comandement, M. de Fr., Zan.,
220; Berie, 141 3; -5"/. Alexis, § 11 ; Ch. d, N.y ii. 9792. A la
requeste et k Tinstance | De tous, God. de P., 7549.

at choice : That hit be atte your choys to go, Rath, O. i?., p. 283.
Avoir et grans richeses orent tout k leur chois, Berte, I497.
Celes rendron tot a lor chois, Eneas^ 6601 ; 6055.

at cry, at summons, at challenge, at word. And for to

hauen all at his cri, Hav.y 269. But to be redy at his somown,
B. 0/ H.y X, ^2%. That ^e be to morow erely ] At f>e chalenge of
J>e lady, II. Ipom., 1233. Al is wrojt at ]?i worde, C/., 348.

Ja mais a sun acort n'en iere en mun viuant, Wace, Rou, ii. 2539.
Se il n'en est k lor otrei, Troie, 10446. Chascun rois sist a sa
demande, TV., i. 194. A la request des dit Comunes . . . acorde
est et establis, Liber Albus, p. 510 f. Puny al discrecioun de
Maire, ib,y p. 466. Estre ... a son jugement e a son ordene-
ment, Livere de Reis, p. 222. A son siervice, Mouskes, 737.

AS. phrases of a similar import are rare ; perhaps in jElfric we see
the native equivalent : And habben hi minne lichaman to gewealde,
JE., Lives, xxiii. B, 356,

at hand (of horses) : At hand = under guidance. For thar na
horlT is in this land | Sa [wycht], no jeit sa weill at hsind, Bruce, ii. 119.

Mais son cheval n'estoit pas si k main que on ne povoit nulle-
ment avoir ne tenir, Froiss., xiv. 230 (La C). Under control,
generally : Tute escience orent k main, Ch, d, N., i. 473.

III. State, condition, at ease, at malease : made him at ese,
Cl„ 124. Wei at ayse. A, and M., 9640; St, Nich, (Delius),
p. 93. Thei that ben yuel at eese, Wic, Mark, ii. 17. Alle that
were at male ese, Wic, Matt,, iv. 24. Yvel at eese, Mark, ii. 17.
He neuer better at ese was his lyve, Ch., Z. G, W,, Dido, 174.
Ful wel at eyse, Somp, T,, 402.

A aise fut, sanz point d'anui. Vie des anc. P., Dou Juit,, 224.
Ne fu plus a mesaise, Ch, iV., ii. 28474. Ne soiez \ malese,
Cour, L,, 264. A mal else, Ch, d, N„ ii. 960. Mais^met^s vostre
cuer ^ aise, Bl, et Jeh,, 1321 ; La Poire, 2884. A grant aise,
Ch, d, N,, ii. 14862. Cf. sunt k leisir, ib,, ii. 7524.

at grief: So that ye take it not at greffe, II. Ip„ 197.
De Tenor, s'il la tient, non m'est a grieu, Ger, de Ross,, p. 369,
Michel. ^God.). See * take agrief, p. 20.

at mischief: To se at myscheiff sic a knycht, Bruce ^ xix.

46 FRENCH ELEMENTS IN MIDDLE ENGLISH

77. The Erl and his thus fechtand war | At gret myscheiff as
I 50U say, tb,, xi. 603.

Einsi del tot a meschief fui, Chev, au Z., 521. Berte la debon-
naire \ moult grant mescief ere, BertCy 1063. Et trait, por moi
metre k meschief, R, Rose, 1831.

at peaoe, at repose : Richard set that lond at peace, Rich. C,
de Z., 2438.

A paiz seit, a paiz viegne, a paiz alt laburer, Ron, 1227. Quant
il ot tote k pais la terre, Brut, 1039 1 ; 9964 ; Eneas , 10076.
Or sui en pais et a repos, Eneas, 8015.

AS. idiom is represented by: p3et hie ealle on sibbe waeron,
BL Horn,, 225.

at large : Whyl ichof hem is athis large, Ch., H, of F., 745. Goon at
his large, K. T., 468. That at his largess wes all fre, Bruce, vii. 378.

Or est au large et k I'essor, Ch, d, /. Ch., p. 177. Cf. mis a
deliverance, Wace, Rou, ii. 2364. * Estre k son large,' Froiss., xvi.
39 (La C). * Je vas au large ' I go abrode, as one doth that is
delyvered out of prison. Cot., 569.

at sure, at certain : Men moste be atte certein for hey and
provender, Rafh. O. R., p. 278.

A certain | Jk ne seront mais net sanz bain, 2>„ i. 184. Sot
que le rois le fist k certes, Wace, Brut, 4488 ; Ch. d. N., ii. 21048.
Quant a setir fu de s'amur, M. de Fr., Le Fr., 285; Fon., 128,
Ceste guerre sera a certes, Cltg/s, iioo. Lat., ad cerium.

III. a. State, condition, especially indicating posture, at bay:
And euer dogge at ^e hole held it at a baye, Wm. of P», 46.
He sterryd as here at baye, Ip., 5845. As boistous as is beare at
bay, Pol. P., i. 307.

Le quel est a present aux plus grans abbois du monde, Caq. de
Taccouch., 3© fourn. (God.). Un sanglier mis aux abois de tous
COSI&, Louis XI, Nouv., 1 9 (L.).

at defense: With his sword he stode at devence, B. of H., x.
1213; Ch., CI. T., 1139.

Se pristrent i defense, e les escriaint, Songs, 277; Pierre
de L., p. 224.

at (the) above, at under : Quha mast [at] their abovin mycht
be, Bruce, xv. 56. [They] schal have )?e better ende and be at
here aboue [Lat. prcBvalere\ Trevisa, Higden, ii. 29 (ned). For
he ves put at vndir swa | That he ves left all hym allane, Bruce,
vii. 365. And had ihame fast at vndir ay, ib., xvii. 20.

S'il al desus de toi venoit. Brut, 2855. S'll al desus venir
pooient, ib., 4244. De lui fust sempres al desus, Troie, 22664.
Bien voi que tu es au desus, Fab., i. 108. Celi dont Ten est au
desseure, R. Rose, 3294. Les Sessons tut a desus et les Bretons
tut a de suz, Livere de reis, p. 38. Soit pour la guerre k son
deseure | Et a son dessous au tournoy, Machault, p. 1 1 1 .

///. PHRASAL POWER OF THE PREPOSITION 47

That the French idiom is taken from the wheel of fortune seems
evident from the lines : Icil sunt al desos torn^ | Qui el desus orent
est^, Brut, 4768. But cf. Lat. supra ^ subter,

Anglo-Saxon expressed a somewhat similar idea by bH/an and
beniSan — And )?u bist ^fre bufan and ni. benitSan, Gr., Deut,^
xxviii. 13. Plainly an imitation of the Lat. ' semper supra et non
subter/

III. b. Condition, existence, implying mutual relations, at ac-
cord, at assent: We ben at on acord, Coeur de Z., 1369 (ned).
Make yondur knyjtes at a-cord, Av, of A.,\ Thenne sex are
atte one assente, Av, of Ar,, § 39; A, and M., 9217. Grete
lordys were at the assent, Sir Fgl., 1096. Thay were al at on
red, Seven Sages, 2064. AUe f>ai were at on asent, A, and M,,
9217.

Ne trairion h. un accort, Ck. d, N,, ii. 8146. Si que la volente e la
reson soient a un acord, Lorenz, p. 61. Poi se tienent ^ un acort,
Troie, 24701. Se tenoient a lor acort, Villeh., 58. Retornons
k acort, God. de P., 570. Furent ^ accordement, id., 4134.

at discord, at debate: The baronnys thus war at discord,
Bruce, i. 69. pat sal ay stryfe and be at debate, Pr. of C, 9425 ;
^'K 3473 ; Ipom., 344 ; Ch., Mill, Tale, 44.

Sa feme mise ^ tel descort, Tr,, i. 106. De ce sont il \ discort,
Orisme, Eth. iv. (L.). Chevacies a force et a estris, Les Z., fo 9e(God.).

AS. idiom is represented by : And hie htd\p on feounge ealle for
minum naman, BL Hom,, p. 171 = at enmity, discord. J)e ]?a
ungejjwaere and ungesibbe betweonum waeron, ib,, p. 225 = at
variance, at strife.

at one: Make the wel at one with him, E, Eng, Psalter,
p. 152. So ]?at hi were at OTi,fuL, 7. Alon he was with the king,
King Horn, 925. And quen we departed we weren at one. Pearl,
32, 6. So at the last hereof they fel at one, Ch., Troil,, iii. 565.
Thus thay were at on alle, Seven Sages, 388. And we schulle ben
at oon, thou most graunt this, Gam,, 156 ; ib,, 166.

At once is an adverbial development from anes (AS. 4ne) = 0Fr.
k un, = AS. ra)x)st, BL Hom,, p. 183. Ne ne nime, at enes, to
ueole disceplines, A, R,, 420. pey smitte to him at ones, Libeaus
Des., 1 1 98.

The literal expression occurs in OFr. : xxv graille i sonent tot
\ un, Cour, L,, 1190. Mielz vos vendreit k un morir, Troie,
24990. La genz des deus reis vint k une | En la forest oscure
e brune, Ch, d, N., ii. 19961. The figurative meaning in: Tot
fust \ un, se il volsist, Troie, 26875. Tant dura la chaple
commun | Que tote I'ovre unt mis \ un, Ch, d, N., ii. 16352, 28298 ;
Troie, 9281, 23743. Ne s'acord^rent miekun, Wace, Brut, 14087.
Cis se sunt, par consel qu^mun [= commun] | Tot assambl^, et
pris k un, ib,, 2893. II ne pensent mie estre a un, Livere de Reis,
p. 220. Le pays d'Angleterre n'est pas bien k un [= in concord],.

48 FRENCH ELEMENTS IN MIDDLE ENGLISH

Froiss., iii. p. 347 (La C). Vous ne pov^s bonnement faire ce
voiage, si TEglise n'est a ung, td,, xiv. 281. lis parlbrent tout
k un (= unanimously), td.^ iv. 319.

IV. Manner of acting, at leisure : Att leyser speke, 4656.

Sa custume est qu'il parlotet \ leisir, Ch, de R„ 141 ; Jr., 2. ii.
§6 ; M. de Fr., Mil,, 483 ; Pel de Ch., 445.

AS., On emtan to smeageanne, Bede, 2, 3.

' at (a)bandon: And schot on tham at abandoune, BrucCy
XV. 59.

E lairai les destriers aler a lur bandun, PeL de Ch,, 502. Si ont
querpi tot a bandon, Eneas, 3742. Entrent a bandon, Troie, 956.
Ore chevauchent . . . k bandon, TV., i. 142. I. saut a fait tot k
bandon. Fab,, iv. 55. Qu'il se cuidoient de randon | Parmi les
trez metre a bandon, Clig/s, 1741.

Cf. also Late MidE. at random : And thei rennen to gidre a
gret randoun, Maund., Travels, p. 238.

Lez le cost^ li passe k tel randon, Cour, Z., 967. Et le sang
de mon cors i grans rendons iscir, Alexan, {Fuerres), 497.
Courent k raundoun, Pierre de L., i. p. 88. Siglent al randoun,
id., ii. p. 36.

at adventure : And say led alle sees at aventur, Pol, P,,\, 216
[1377]. Armed them, all at aventers, Caeur de L., 2188 (ned).

Aller k leur avanture, comme aventures sont par toutes les voyes
qui pourroit greuer leurs ennemis a leur perils et fortunes, Le Jouv.,
p. 514 (La C). Au hazard du combat, Mont., i. 15 (L). Nagerent
a vent et a fortune, Waurin, Rolls s., p. 31.

at fall : May savely go at )?e fol, C, M,, 4008 (T.) (ned). Cf. iii,
State, Shal she (the moon) been euene atte fuUe, Ch., Frank, T,, 341.

Ensi doit ilh ferir al plain | Des esperons, Jacq. de Baisieux,
Trouv, Belg,, p. 179 (God.).

Cf. ON. at fullu ; AS. on fullum m6nan, at full moon (B-T).

at right: V hundreth armyt weill at rycht, Bruce, xiii. 291.
Wele armyde at alle righte, Sir Per., 1139. Y-armed at ryghtes,
Sir Deg,, 372. At all ri3tes, Libeaus Des,, 167 1.

Rou fist alkes a dreit, Hasteins fist a enuers, Wace, Rou, ii. 13.
Chastel-FaV fu dit k droit, Tr, (Douce 2), ii. 95. Mais se tu
veus estre sages a droit, Lorenz, p. 21. Si les avrez k droit paiez,
Fab., iv. 190.

at (one's) cost: pat non myght scape at no cost, R. B., Ch.,
1054 (Pet.). Shal haue a soper at our aller cost, Ch., Prol.,
799. Right at myn owene cost, and be your gyde, ib., 804.
To dwel at hys costage | At bouche and court and wage, Sir
Deg., 997.

A toz dix mil homes k sa despense, Villeh., 48. Cil qui le plet
maintint k son coust, Beaum., xii. 24 (L.). Procurer les besognes

///. PHRASAL POWER OF THE PREPOSITION 49

de lor mestres ^ lor coz, id,, 82 (L.). Ferra ent execucioun, a ses
costages, Ltber Albtis, p. 511. Aler ^ ses coustages, Pierre de L.,
J. p. 474.

at guess : pes wymmen answerede al at gesse, R. B., Hand, -S*.,
1952.

Cf., Dites vos k gas [in jest], Fab,y iv. 23. Car soit a certes ou
a gas, I Par aucuns I'amiraus 1 orroit, Fl. et BL, i. 812 (God.). Ne
guidez pas, | A gius n'k certes n\ agas, Ch, d, N,, ii. 3367. Cf.,
Garde toi . . . de toi bouter h, tel azard, Songe dor/ (L.). Parians
k raison, Bu, de C, 3343.

at peril : At all periles, quod f)e prophete, I aproche hit no
nerre, Pa,, 85. At al perils wil I go, Sir Ferumb., 3485.

A mal iront et k peril, | Et li plosor en lone eissil, Troie, 4139.
Grever leurs ennemis k leur perils et fortunes, Le Jouv., p. 514
(LaC).

V. a. Mode and manner and means, at a brayde, at a ftrape,
at a shot, at a titte, at a swap, at a wap, at a mase, at
a dent : & uche best at a brayde ^r him best lykey, C/„ 539.
Scho brayd hit a-don at on brayd. Seven Sages, 483 (Morris com-
pares ON. at bragdi, at once). Bot al wor flayd at o frape, R. B.,
Ch,, 1 1 48. Al holyke cam j>er flote j In Dertemuthe, at o schote,
^^-i 1737' Yf J)at tre war tite pulled oute | At a titte with al f>e
rotes oboute, R. R. H., Pr, of Con., 1914. Weved at )5e fyrst
swap as J>e snaw }?ikke, CL, 222. Me fleing at a swappe he
hente, Ch., H. of F., 543. To Mark bi middel at a Mase \yar.
maste] in more then in f>re, Ps. of S., 320. He frust down at

dent, A. and M., 6286. Bot at a wap hit here wax & away at
ano]?er, Pa.^ 499.

OFr., \k un coup, \ un brin, \ un flat, \ un trait, \ un vol, \ une
frusse : Qu'il ne i'^ust k un sol cop tu^, Alesc, 5324. Que ces
chiens et ces hommes tout \ un coup perdi, A. N. Ch., iii. 207.
Dont bien m'est, \ un cop, faillis | S'il ne vous plaist \ trouer voie,
Bl.etfeh., 1834. A un coup li ferai la teste trebuchier, Berte,
597. A un cop tuent, Machault, p. 98. Et veez chi un castiel qui
a nom Denis . . . que nous prendrons au premier cop, Ch. de R.,
10 1 (L.). X un sol coup, Ch. d. N., i. 590. A voiz s'escrient toz
ensemble k un brin, Alesc, 1664. Les -iij* en giete contre terre
\ un flas, ib., 3988. A un seul trait en a but, ib., 3929. Et cil

1 chiet tout k -i- vol | La lance et Tescus dou col, Chev.d. I. Ch,,
p. 25. X une frusse si fort retornayent, Pierre de L., i. 482.

at a trice : Pluckid downe dere all at a tryse, Ipom., ii. 392.
Mr. Skeat does not know this phrase (see his * Etym. Diet.,' * trice ').
He derives trice from Span, tris, noise made by the breaking of
glass, short space of time, instant ; venir en un tris, to come in an
instant. The presence of the word in MidE. makes it necessary
to connect * tryse,' Ipom., ii. 392, with MidE. trisen, to haul, pull;

D

50 FRENCH ELEMENTS IN MIDDLE ENGLISH

see Ch., C, T. B., 3715, ' Out of his sete i wol him trise/ MidE.
* at a tryse ' is therefore a parallel to * a un trait/ AlesCj 3929.

at a word, at one mouth, at one voice: Hi seid at one
moiijje, E, E, Ps,, p. 15, 1. 85. Vp Pilax hi cried apan eu[ri]chon
at one vois, tb„ p. 15, 1. 87. pat wrojt alle f>ynges ... at a worde
one, Pa,, 208. To tell ... at 00 worde, Ch., Duch., 306.
Tel me, lord, at wordis breue, A, E, Z., C de C, 104; at wordes
lite, B. and 189.

Tuit cil de Rome s*en issent ^ un hu, Cour, Z., 1196;
Prise dOr,, 112; Elie, 788. L'assaut comence tot ^ une hu^e,
Chans, </ Ogier, fol. 205, v., col. i, 1. 50 (La C). Voire de mil tout ^
i sible I Tappeloient le roy paisible, . Machault, p. 106. Crierent
\ une voix, Boron, Graaly 496. & s'escrierent tout ^ une voix,
Villeh., 17. E Franceis les enchalcent e a hu e a cri, Wace,
Rou^ ii. 895. Enmi les els lor sont sailli | A une vois et ^ un
cri, Wace, Brut, 12300; Ch. d. N,, ii. 2506; Trote, 22124.
A un sofle fust tot perdu, Eneas, 7712. Vaspasyens a un seul
mot j Fist des Juis ce que lui plot. Boron, Graal, 2285. Respunent
k un cri, S/. Aud., 1105. Ne boive pas a une alaine j Ne henap
plain ne cope plaine, P, Pose, ii. p. 89.

V. d. Insirument used in action : play at tables, checker, ball,
dice, buckler, chess, &c. : Wif) pleynde atte tables o)?er atte
chekere, R. G., Ch,, 3965. How he played at f)e bal. A, E, Z.,
.Sy. Aug,^ 706 ( = ludebat ad pilara, J. de Vorag.) ; Av, of Ar,,
§ 24. At )?e echesse i con wel pleye. A, E, Z., St, B,, 734 ( = ad
taxillos ludere, J. de Vorag.). To pleyen atte dys. Gam,, 20.
A play atte bokeler, tb.y 126. Thare lered men the Normandes
at bukler to play, Minot, in Pol. P., i. 70.

As tables juent pur els esbaneier | Et as escbas li plus saive e li
vieill, Ch, de P,, iii. Et dan Guillaume qui jeue k Teschequier,
Cov, Vi'v., 990. To pleye at j^e ches or at ]>e Tablere, R. B.,
Hand, 1043 ; translating as echeks ou al tabler, Man, Pech,,
1531. Ansi com jue k la pelote. A, N, Ch., iii. p. 131. N'est
mie a billette juer, Ipom,, 2404. As eschas jvent li plusor \ Au
geu del mat ou au mellor, Wace, Brut, 10841. Esbaneier, as dez,
as eschez, et as tables, Troie, 11 79. joent k hazart, Brut, 10837.

This use of at with verbs of playing is also the construction in
ON. AS. plegan was used transitively or absolutely. With an
object the construction with the accusative of the object was usual :
plegan plegiajj, plaegiendra timpanum, &c. (B-T).

Instrument : at spur : Thowe moste spede at the spurs, Morte
Arthur, 449. pey spede at J?e spoures, ih,, 483. Pre stedes
heddes doun rijt | He slou; at strokes pre, Libeaus Des,, 1239.

Que n'i allons \ esperon | Lui deraisnier, Tr,, i. 201 ; ib., 2, ii. 39.
Et cil s*en torne \ esperon brochant, Cour, Z., 2442. Le roi le
suit a esperon, G, de P., 103. Al bois s'en turne a esperun,

///. PHRASAL POWER OF THE PREPOSITION 51

Ipom., 6326, 6839. Cf. also, A glaive les ocoient, Bru^, 1042,
Corut a sigle et £ nage, td., 8401. Pristrent al heri9on, Eneas,
3752. Seel^ ^ cire, h. clox, 7r., i. 34. Prent . . . al piege, Wace,
J^oUy ii. 6i I. Defendre al fer e a Tacier, i*^., ii. 3219.

V. c. Vivid adverbial adjunct : at eye : Then they may seen at
eighe or elles preve, Ch.,/'r. Z. G, W., loo. This maistow under-
stande and seen at eye, Ch., II. 7!, 1458.

Co dit Dithis, qui'l vit as ielz, Troie, 26927. Car chascuns pot
veoir II I'ueil | De lune esclipse, Machault, (JSuvres, p. 68 ; Joinv.,
222 (L., voir). Cf. mostr^ au dei, Troie, 8608; id,, 10539.

VI. A/, with words expressing estimation of value \ If I hit lukked
oJ>er set at lijt, Gaw. and G, K,, 1250. Set hem at lyttel, C/.,
1 7 10. pei sett it sof>li at nou3t [= set no account by], Wm, of P.,
3467. And sette my wurdus atte lijte, Sir Am,, 14. That al the
worlde he sette at no value, Ch., Z. G, W,, Cleo,, 23. Thai sold
set all their fais at noucht, Bruce, xiii. 88. Jakke, thi lewid pro-
phecie | I preise not at a peese, Pol, P., ii. 46 ; ib., ii. 47. He
spatt on hym & sett hym all at noght. A, E. Z., Eras., 52.

Ne prisa mais noz deus a valur d'un gant, St. Aub., 1 162. Sire,
je *s esme k treis milliers, Ch, d, N., ii. 22223. Dame, nul mai
que j'aie, Ne tieng fors k legier, Cot4ci, viii. [L.]. Suz ciel n'ad rei
qu'il prist ^ un enfant, Ch, de P., 2739. Les chevalers d'Engle-
tere sunt nonbrez k 111^, Fitz W,, 19. Tel conseil prist \ l^ger,
A, N, Ch., J. 97. Son ^age a 'Xx- ans puis prendre, BL et feh,, 69.

The corresponding idiom in AS. is represented by : And tellaS
mfn wedd for ndht, Gr., Deut,, xxxi. 20. To hwon )>u sceole of
owiht J>ysne man habban, B, Horn. 179. Hfe hfe selfe t6 n6hte
bem^tan, Oros,, 3, 7.

VII. Measure, extent, especially with superlatives, (ct) quantity,
lb) quality, (c) time, {a) at all : To J>is bestes mercy -i- bowe me
at alle, Wm, ofP,,^^i\, perfore, couherde, i )>e coniure & comande
atte alle, ib., 283. Sche is a schrewe at al, Ch., Pr. Mar, T.,
10; Fr. T., 936.

Que sa fille k tout bien taill^e, R, Rose, i. 186.
AS. eallunga: Eallunga Codes rfce on ^ow becymj), Lk., Bos.,
II, 2o[B-T].

at overmuch: At over-mekyll in travell has )>ou bene, Tfom.,
4042.

Mbs au surplus ja ne b^ait, Ch. de la Ch., p. 80.

at the least: (a) with numerals; {fi) as adv. modifier of
verb, (a) eihle reisuns et te leste. A, R,, 164. (3) Yet at the leste
renoveleth your servyse, Ch., C. Mars, 19. The sentence of the
compleynt, at the leste, ib., 24. Shiild dighe, or at f>e lest tyn hir
witt, Pr. of Con,, 2322.

(a) Desi qu'a xv jorz al meins, Troie^ 25541. II a jk bien
cine ans, au mains, R. Rose, 47. Au mains une, ib,, 1640.

D 2

5? FRENCH ELEMENTS IN MIDDLE ENGLISH

Jusqu'a quinzaine a tot le mains, au Z., 3076. (fi) De la
bele dame veoir | Au moins, C/iev. au Z., 1539. Ceci au meins
bien cuidions, Boron, Graal^ 3536; Wace, Brut^ 1200.

In AS. set Isestan, without the article, was used in limiting
numerals, Ch,, 1049; but in the limitation of the sense of verbs
huru = at least : ForSi me sceolan habban huru eadmodnysse,
Lives, xii. 283.

The use of the article, which is uniformly employed in MidE.,
and the extension of the use of *at the least* for verbal modifications,
are best explained by the constant influence of OFr. au moins,

{b) at the best : Treuli twenti )?ousand a-tired atte best, Wm,
0/ P,y 1949. And dronken euer strong ale atte best, Ch., Rev. T,,
227. And wel we weren esed atte beste, Ch., ProL C, 7!, 29.

Ele fut corunee al plus bel e al mielz, PeL de Ch.^ 6. Furent
arbres au plus bel del munt, Jos,, 1967. Et fai al mius que tu
saras, Wace, Brut, 6754. Al mielz qu'il sot et au plus dreit,
Troie, 1841. Je la salu au plus bel | Que jou poi raisnier, R, u.
P,y iii. 26, 13.

AS. used * best ' as super, adv., but I do not find *2et bestan. J)u
scalt libben aire best, O, E, Horn,, i. p. 7.

MidE., as far as my notes show, does not adopt equivalents for
OFr. al plus bel, Ch, d, N., ii. 569 (but cf. 'at the best'); al plus
tost, Wace, Rou,\\. 1942 ; Ch. d. N.j ii. 15148 ; au loncg, Fear-Bk,
JEd. 7, i. p. 26, or ^ long, but cf. at schort. Lane, 135 ; au plus
dreit, Troie, 1841, &c. ; au plus, A, and N,, 18, 28 (AS., be 8am
mafestan); au pis. A, N. C, iii. 150.

{c) at first, at the first : Him behove)? ate verste ] pet he habbe
prudence, Ayenh,, p. 127. A gret fiss at J>e ferste | Mi net he
jnakede berste, Horn, 661 (669 ed. Wissmann, QueL u, Forsch,,
45). Rimnild sede at f)e ferste: | herte, nu J)u berste, Horn, 1191
(Wissm., 1213). At the furste up he drough, Alis,, 2636.

Tel[s] quida altre abatre ki al premier chai, Wace, Rou, ii. 788.
Au premier quant de li parlai, Bl, et Jeh„ 4708. Qui au premier
fu vostre dame, ib,, 4920.

The AS. set fruman, aet sferestan, on forman {BL Horn,, 127, 20),
were carried into MidE. : Ac ich 30U telle J)0 at arst, A. and M,,
2333. For now at erste shul ye here, Ch., H of F,, 512. Louerd
spareS a uormest f)e ^unge. A, R., 220. On aire erest hwon ^e . . ^
ib„ 64.

The simple superlative adv. was likewise used, arst, erst.

The preference manifested for ' at the first,' using at rather than
on, and adding the article, shows the steady influence of the
French expression with al, au.

at the last : And at the last forgat thai noght, Minot, in Pol. P.,
i. 77. Rest at ]?e laste, CI., 446 ; Ch., ProL C. T., 707 ; R. o/R.,
193 ; Sir Per., 2259 ; R. R. H., Pr. of C, 86 ; Libeaus Des., 1 506.

///. PHRASAL POWER OF THE PREPOSITION S3

Garin li dus tot au derr^ain vint, Mor/ Garin, 3805. Mes al
d[e]rain se tent a cest, Ip«, 1247 ; ^''•> 2, ii. 6 ; Wace, Rou, ii. 356.
Pesa al darrennier k'il tant fu esparni, St, Aud,, 1528 ; Trote, 6078.
Or li proi qu*el ne m'escondie | Au darrenier d'un petit don, La
Poire, 2988. Al dreyn torna la perte a Yervand, I^t/z PF., p. 23 ;
Gaimar, 189 (Ep. L. D.). A darrien, Boron, Graal, 3830.

AS. aet sfeestan is like set serestan in lacking the article. It does
not appear in MidE., which has partly availed itself of * on ende * to
express the notion. On ende, — J>eonne is )>e muchele joie, A. R,y
218. In finem, on ende, ib., 146. 1 drede on ende quat
schulde byfalle, Pearl, 16, 6. = Lat. and Fr. in finem, en fin. AS.
on lengtSe, — On lengtJe mid him he begeat ealle J)a eastlond, Oros.,
144, I — scarcely appears in MidE. There is a very rare case,
On lenche als him likes, Pierre de L., p. 236. The AS. * latest'
= at the latest, Wulfst., 208, 5 (B-T), could not affect * set sftSestan.'
On the other hand, ON. at lesti no doubt aided in the establishment
of the phrase. At (the) last could arise from {a) ON. at lesti, (b) by
analogy with aet sferestan, under the influence of al derein ; in either
case the presence of the article points to OFr. influence. The
earliest occurrence in Laj., * at ]>an laste/ 3765, is in harmony with
this view.

The loss of AS. aet nehstan, recently, lately, finally, at last, Oros,,
30, 12, seems due to the absence of a supporting phrase in OFr.
■ Chronology. The earliest evidence of the influence of OFr. iin
MidE. phrasal use is found in the first half of the thirteenth century,
when la, at one's might, appears in Orm,, II, at wille in K and V.,
Ill b, at once, and VII a, at /he least, in A, P. The use of abaun-
dune in O.KJI,^ c. 1225, is significant of the colloquial familiarity
with Ji-phrases in EMidE. The article is also added to * at last '
as a phrase of time in Laj. The second half of the century extends
the at-phrases but slightly. I, at will, is found in Laj. (2nd text)
replacing the AS. on of the first text ; III b, at one, VII c, at the
first, appear in Horn ; at few words in P. and S, The flourishing
time of at-phrases is the first half of the fourteenth century : I b, at
point, Wm. o/P.; Ill, at aise. A, and M., at the full, C. M. ; III a,
at defence, Pev, of H,\ Illb, at debate, Pr, o/C) IV, at guess.
Hand, S,] Va, at o dent. A, and Mr, Vb, play at table, R. G. ;
VI, (set) at nought, Wm. o/P,; VII, at all, tb,', Vila, p,
superlatives (quant.) with the, at the leste, Pr, of C. ; VII b, (qual.)
at the best, Wm. of P, The last half of the fourteenth century
extends this phrasal growth somewhat further : V b, at the spurs,
MorU Arthur-, Vc, at eye, Ch. But the chief extensions for MidE.
had been established. Authors like Robert of Gloucester, Robert

54 FRENCH ELEMENTS IN MIDDLE ENGLISH

of Brunne, Richard Rolle of Hampole, Dan Michel, the writers of
the versions A. and M. and Wm, o/P,, all having Fr. afl&liations, are
the chief exponents of the new phraseology.

Conclusion. The history of at in ME. shows very many remark-
able phenomena. An expression like be ]?lnre maetSe became
at thy measure; on tSfnum gewealde, at thy command ; on feounge,
at discord; on emtan, at leisure; hwylcumhwega wordum, at few
words ; tellatS . . for naht, set at no value ; a simple word such
as eallunga, entirely, may be rendered by a phrase, at all; the
simple superlative adverbs msest, laest, &c., are preferably rendered
by phrases, at the most, at the. least, at the best, &c. ; new phrases
are coined, at bay, at point, at my knowing, at abandon, &c. — in
short, AT undergoes in MidE. a great development of meaning,
encroaching on the sphere of other prepositions and entering into
phrases previously unknown in the language. These changes are
paralleled with the utmost exactitude by the use of in corre-
sponding syntactical phrases in OFr. They occur for the first
time chiefly in works having French originals. Hence it must be
concluded that this development of meaning of at and the exten-
sion of its phrasal power are the direct result of French influence
upon the native language.

IV. NOMINAL COMPOUNDS AND

PHRASES

The juxtaposition of MidE. and OFr. made some modification
of the Teutonic noun-compounds inevitable ; for the facility of AS.
in creating compound nouns was restricted to so-called * flat ' and
flexional syntax ; while the facility of OFr. was essentially in phrasal
syntax. In some cases OFr. influence modified the flat compounds
of English without perceptible need in point of expression, as in the
case of head- resp. master-, chief- ; in some instances new phrasal
nouns appear, at times supplanting the AS. equivalents, at. times
expressive of new notions ; in others, as in the construction with
* manner of,' the mind's view of the phrase changed, and the OFr.
construction won a distinct victory over the native idiom.

I. MASTER-, CHIEF-, IN COMPOUNDS.

In AS., expressions corresponding to MidE. * mayster-wryth,'
A, E. L,,Ktndh,J,j 635, * chef church,' Wm, of P,, 1955, involved
the use of h^afod, head: Ow twam h^afod-burgum, M.y Lives y ii.
320. Seo burh Asor wajs . . . manegra burga h^afod [= principa-
tum tenebat], Gr., Jos,, xi. 10. pa hdafod-menn, M,y Lives, xiii.
139. hdafod-wyrhta, h^afod-mynster, h^afod-stede, hdafod-gylt,
deadly sin ; hdafod-leahter, a capital offence.

Compounds with heaved < kfa/od continue through MidE. pe
seouen heaued sunnen, A, R,, 194. AUe heued-sennes, V, and F.,
81,21; 3, 29 ; 67, 34. Nu beoS viii heafod mihtan, O, E, H,,
p. 103.

But MidE. early shows compounds with (i) master and (2) chief,
immediately due to the influence of OFr. maistre and chief in
equivalent expressions.

master : Wimmen welten weres mester = master-men, fiends
(M), G, and Ex,^ 532. Meister burg, ib,, 3381 ; meister prest, ib,,
3386. pe mayster-wryth. A, E. Z., Kind, J,, 635. pe maister
jailere, C. M,, 4434. pe maister chefe iailer, ib, (MS. 1340), 4434.
The maister budel, PoU Songs y 151. A mayster J)ef, R. R. H.,

56 FRENCH ELEMENTS IN MIDDLE ENGLISH

Lam., 330. A maister heretyk, A, E, Z., Ambr, 299. Meires
and Maister luges, P, PL (A), viii. 171. The maystre strete,
Ch., Z. G, W., An'ad., 80. The maistre temple, Z. G. W., Dido,
91. Maistre toune of al Colcos, Vsyph,, 224. A wise maister
carpenter, Wic, i Cor,, iii. 10.

Mestre cuisinier, Alesc, 3845. Li maistre clerc, Pou, S^j^j. Maistre
gardeins, id,, 3238. Mestre confesseur, A. N, Ch., iii. 177. Le
maistre tor roial, G. de P., 4652. Son maistre cor, Alesc, 7058.
Son maistre conseillier, Berie, 3174. Mestre dais, Tr., ii. 101 ;
£n., 839. Ce est la maistre siez d*enfer, 2701. Mestre limonier,
Char, de N,, 126^, Mestre bacheler, th., 1223. Maistre roche,
Aymon, 133. Mestre donjon, ib.^ 121. Maistre chambre, ib.,
III. Maistres v^n^res, tb., 97. As maistres porz, Ch. 2939.

chief: Oure chefe kyng, R. B., Ch., 15. pe maister chefe iailer,
C. M. (MS. 1340), 4434. pe chef chyrche, R. G., Ch., 4758. pe
chief Cite, E. E, Ps., 49. pe chef cherch, Wm. of P., 1955.
Chife goddes and qwene, Ch., Fr, T,, 1046. Cheefe-pasture,
Pol. P., i. 321. Chefe lorde. Sir Per,, 2135. My chefe herte,
Sir EgL, 305.

The earliest instance of OF. chief, in this use, cited by Liltrd
is : Le chief seignor dou reiaume Jerusalem, Ass. de J., 12 15 (date
1250, G. Paris). Chef bailifs, Tr. d'Ec, c. 7 (God. ii. 121). Chef
seygnur, Pierre de L., p. 182. Chef justiser, id,, p. 258. Chef
justize, Liver e de Reis, p. 252. Qe estoit fait chief gardein du
roy, Fr. Ch. Lond., p. 62.

It is especially noteworthy that MidE. ' master ' in these expres-
sions is imitated -from OFr. ; and that when in OFr., at a time later
by a century than the use of maistre, chief is used, MidE., at
a correspondingly long time after the use of master, turns to employ
chief. The history of this expression is somewhat parallel to that of
cors, referred to in the Introduction.

II. PHRASAL NOUNS.

I. MidE. shows a remarkable growth of phrasal nouns of the
type of man of arms, man of law, for which AS. employed either
the simple noun, e. g. cempa, or the flat compound, e. g. lahman-
II. It exhibits, too, a partiality for the genitive of quality, especially
in certain conventional terms favoured in OFr. poetry. The latter
construction was not new to English, as AS. frequently used it,
especially when accompanied by an adjective ; e. g. maesse-preost
maeres lifes, JE., Lives, iv. 229. The first type is essentially
Romance by origin.

man of arms, &c. Men of armes, R. B., Ch., 1025 ; ib., 154I4
Godmen of armes, Wm. of P., 1069. Kni3t of armes, ib., 11 98.
Harroldys of armes, Torr., 2365. Man of werre, Ip., 3869. Men
at horse, Maund., xxii. 245 (ned).

IV, NOMINAL COMPOUNDS AND PHRASES 57

Hommes d'armes, Berry, J^ec, de N., 357, 370 bis. Chevaliers
d*armes, Ch'g/s, 2687. Sergaunts d'armes, Fr, Ch, Lond., p. 83*
Bone genz des armes, Pierre de L., i. p. 218, B. Consauls d'armes,
Machault, p. 108. Gens d'armes. Berry, l^ec, de N,, 306 et pass.
Gens de guerre, tb,^ 26S e/ pass, ; CI, d'Am,^ 2000. Airaulx
d*armes, J. d'Auton, Ch. (God.). Archiers k cheval, Berry, I^ec, de
N,, 347, 371. Serjanz e k escuz e k arcs, Quatre Liv, des R,, iii.
27. Un grand sire as armes, Pierre de L., i. 196. Gens as armes,
id,y i. 218.

merchant of wool, &c. — a favourite phrasal construction for
nouns of trades and professions : Marchantes of woUe, P, PL Crede,
289. Men of laghe, Pr, ofC, 5942 ; Ch., Mel, p. 164. Sergeant
of lawe, ProL C, T,, 309. Doctour of phisik, 411. Man of
religion, Wm. de S., 65; SL Alex, (v.) 23; E, E. Wills, 3, 12.
Renkez of religion, C/., 7. Men of ordre, A, E, Z., St, Aug.,
1043 ; St, Alex, (Laud, 622), 86, &c. Man of holichirche, R. G.,
Ch,, 9659.

Merchant de chevax, de vin, ouvribre de sole, tailleur de robes,
&c., Taille de Paris, anno 1313. Marchdanz de dras. Fab,, ii. 126.
Mestres de theologye, Pierre de L., ii. 346. Gent de religiun, Ron,
783; Fab,, ii. 172; Livere de Reis, p. 58. Dames de religion,
Machault, p. 147. Gent d'ordre, Ruteb., 42 (L.). Gens d'eglise,
Berry, Rec. de N,, 297, 358.

man of price, &c. An excellent instance of the transference of
set phrases from OFr. to MidE. is afforded by the expressions made
with price in a relation of genitive of quality : No no gentil man of
priis. A, and M,, 2831. His yonge men of prys. Gam,, 803. In
Troye was a Due of prys, R. B., Ch,, 459. pe twelue dosze-peres
of pris, ib,, 1601. & Kni^tes of pris. A, and M,, 6062. A castel
. . . of pris, R. B., Ch,, 161 2. Gyftes of pris, ib,, 3748. Hors of
priis. A, and M,, 681 1.

Bons serjens de priz, Mort Garin, p. 4. Li bon vasal de prise,
Aymon, p. 11. Li barons de pris, Cliges, 4630. c. homes de pris,
Alesc, 8019. Chevaus de pris, Cligis, 416.

point of death. This expression exemplifies the supplanting of
the native idiom by the borrowed phrase : Be noght fulfilled at J>e
dedes poynt, R. R. H., Pr. of C, 3303. pou bytawte in to J?i
faderys handys at ))e poynt of J>i deth J?i gloryouse gost, R. R. H.,
Med, de P, D,, 338. At point of dede was hir stat, A, and M,^
8458, In poynt of dethe we both hathe ben, Ip,, 7032*

E quant vent al point de la mort. Best, Rich,, 3835. Naufre^
an poynt de mort, FiizWar,, p. 70. Qu'il vient al destreit, | Al
point de morir, Reimp,, § 68.

The AS. expressions of the notion were : -^t his daga ende,
£1, Horn,, p. 225 ; ealdres at ende, Beo.^ 2791; and orwena lifes
iaeg aet fortS-siSe, M., Lives, iii. 301.

53 FRENCH ELEMENTS IN MIDDLE ENGLISH

brother germain, brother-in-law, &c. It is not remarkable,
when MidE. adopted OFr. terms for family relationships like uncle,
aunt, cousin, that it should also owe expressions of the type of
cousin germain and brother-in-law to the same source. Brother
germayn of uader and of moder, Ayen,, 146. No bretheren, ne
cosins germayns, Ch., MeL, 168. He is mi germain cosyn, G, of
W.y A., 912 (ned).

Qui estoit ses freres germains, Cltges, 2539. Sa suer germainne,
Chev, au Z., 3909 ; serors germainnes, R, u, P., i. 5, 2. .ii. cousins
germains, Fab,^ ii. 54. Germains cousins, Alexan, {Fuerres)^ 645.

He was Daries brother in lawe, Alts,, 4399. And son-in-law
wes to the king, Bruce j xvii. 219. Agains Pompeius, fader thin
in lawe, Ch., Monkes 71, 690.

The AS. expressions for brother-in-law, &c., were dSum, swegr,
snoru. The new forms are certainly Romance. In OFr. en loi
de mariage was a set formula in the expression of such relation-
ships : P^re en loi de mariage = beau-p^re (La C. * loi,' also God.,
ib,). Me pren par loy de mariage, Meiam, Ov, (Bartsch), 643,
29. Vos iestes tuit mi fil et mes fiUes en \o\yjos. of Ar., 1380.
Poures jeunes hommes, | Freres en lay k cause de leurs femmes,
Reg, 130 Chartoph, reg,^ ch. 127 (Du Cange). The ned notes as
the source the legal Lat. frater in lege, citing, however, no example
earlier than 1425, while the MidE. expression is found in 1300.

III. TAUTOLOGICAL PHRASES.

MidE., in addition to tautological groups carried over from AS.,
shows fresh groups transferred from OFr. These are: verbal
groups, like grant and give, A. Z., St, Aug,^ 1357 ; adverbial,
like fair and well ; adjectival, like safe and sound ; or nominal, like
those adduced below. In some cases an English equivalent word
replaces a French word in one member of the phrase, and the
whole takes on a semblance of bilingualism, for which the history
of the phrase in question affords no justification.

cause and matter : That men mowe haue cause and matiere
to prayse you, Ch., MeL^ p. 196.

Ne truisse cause ne reson, CI, d'Am,, 2923.

custom and use (haunt): Als ))e custom ]?an was and ]>t
usage, R. R. H., Pr, of C, 4054. His custume & his haunt,
R. B., Ch., 6648.

Si comme il est costume et us, Wace, Brut, 6912; id,, 3243.
Si com or est us et costume, Cl^h, 4531. Si come il est coustume
et us. Fab,, i. 112. Par le coustume et par Tusage, G. de P., 8907.

hue and cry : Wyf> mykel noyse & cry & heu, R. B., Ch,, 11 984.
Oure peple made an hu and a crye, Cax., God, Bol,, 268, 11.

E Franceis les enchalcent e a hu e a cri, Wace, Rou, ii. 895 ;
Brut, 3128; /i^., 8710. Et la bataille, et li hus, et li cris, Mort

ly. NOMINAL COMPOUNDS AND PHRASES 59

Garzn, 238. Li sun des cors, li hu, li cri, A. N, Ch,, i. 200. Li
huz et la criee, Troie, 9535. Et cri et hu, Wace, Brut^ 3128,
8710. Lievent le cri, lievent le hu, Ch, d, N., ii. 5142.

leisure and space : Gif God will me gif | Laser and space so
lange till lifF, Bruce, xx. 233.

Quant il ont else et leu et tans, Cliges, 3864. Se vos li donez
leisir e tens, Ch. d, N., ii. 21060. N'ont unc mais aise ne leisir, tb.,
17968. Or ont assez terme et leisir, Troiey 22335. Leu e leisir,
Ch. d. N., ii. 17800.

lord and sire (master): Humbald was f>er-in lord & sire,
R. B., Ck., 6421.

De lui firent seignor et maistre, Eneas, 77; Boron, Graal, 3350-
Qui est damour sire et maistre, En. (D.), 734 (Append.); G.deP,,
2478 ; Hav,f 1086 ; Trote, 490. Mestre et sire, 2*3., 837; 22330.

Ids and price : Ye, for to gette them losse & prise, Ip,y 6046.
For to Wynne price and loos, B, of H.^ x» 22.

Por los et pris d'armes conquerre, F/, et Lir., 1184; 7r., 2,
42. Grand pris et grans los, Wace, Brut, 130 15. Le los &
le pris [en] portast, Ip., 131, 11 51, 1588. Out le los e pris
(Adgar), Mar. Leg., 39/52.

peace and concord : Pesful felagheship and concord, R. R. H.,
Ps. cl. 4 (ned). Concorde nor peace, Caxton, En,, xl. 132.

pais et Concorde, Wace, Brut, 1293 ; Ch. d. N., ii. 645; tb.,
8500. Concorde e pais, Ch^ </. A^., 23179 ; ib., ii. 6317.

right and reason : For as by right and resoun, ther may no
man take vengeaunce, Ch., Mel., 169.

Mout lor fet bien reison et droit, Clig/s, 534 ; Ch. d. N., ii.
23560; Wace, Rou, ii. 2749. Raison et droiture. Fab., i. i. Dreiz
est e raisun. Mar. Leg., 46/155; Cour, L., 1897; Troie, 24404.

IV. CYN AND MANNER OF ^

The expression of the notion *what kind of was usually made
in AS. by means of cyn in the genitive : Feower cynna gefeoht, M.,
Lives, XXV, 705. iElces cynnes treow = L. omne lignum, Gen., ii. 9.
Cf. also : gehwylces hddes men, men of all ranks, Bl. Horn., p. 47.
pa nftenu of eallum cinne, Gen,, vii. 8.

This native idiom passed into MidE. ; sumes kennes (lean),
V. and v., 11, 32. Monie kunnes remedies, A, R,, 120. Two
cunne ancren, ib., 128. Ones Kunnes treow, ib., 150. Alles
cunnes pinen,/«/., 18. Nanes cunnes blisse, ib., 21. 11c kinnes
beste, G. and Ex., 220. Oj>res kennes teares, V. and K, 147, 8.
Alle tSes kennes eueles, ib,, 103, 2, Noskinnes labour, Ch., ff. of
F., 1794. Us forto were fra alkins ill, Stk Holy Rood, 60,

* See also Kellner, ' English Syntax,' pp. 103 IT.

6o FRENCH ELEMENTS IN MIDDLE ENGLISH

In examples like the last cited we see already alles cynnes
losing caste as a noun and passing into an indeclinable adjective.
This tendency was strengthened by the form cynne, originally the
genitive pi. cynna; hence: Whatkyn fru}^:, Fr. of C, 923. Alkyn
thyng, ib.^ 3248. Nankyn chance, Bruce, ii. 168. This kyn vis^
lA, iv. 743. Fele-kyn hues, C/., 1483. Even Whatkyns a Godd,
Sir PerCj 242. On J>is kin wise. Finding of the Cross y 33.

The OFr. expression by means of mani^re, esp^ce, emphasized
the class rather than the content of the notion : Tote manere de
pecche, BesL Rich,, 1516. Une manere est de serpent, ib,, 1634.
Toutes mani^res d'autres vivres, 7r., i. 32. Autre meniere d'angin,
Jos. of A,, 862. Mainte maniere | E de virgenes et d*inocens,
Mouskes, Hist de Fr., p. 296. iii manieres de franchise, Lorenz,
p. 24. Vint e treis manieres de herbes, Adgar, 31, 86. Tute
maniere de musches(= omne genus muscarum), Ps, Ixxvii. 45.
Also, but less frequently : Joiaus de maintes manieres, Fab,, ii. 125.
Roses de diverses guises, CL d'A., 2147.

MidE. early imitated the OFr. : Crabbe is an manere of fissce,
0,E,H,, 51. How fele maners ... of fleande brides, QuesLM.,\t. 286.
pe maner of crucyfyyng, Med. Pass, Lord, 628. Al maner of
trespas, Med. Sov. Lady, 1104. Another manere of drynk, Pr, of
C, 6750. Sere maners of gys, ib,, 1532. Through the analogical
influence of the singular constructions, aided by the native unin-
fleeted collectives, we have : Seven manere of blysses, Pr, of C,
8168. Kind stands at times as the native equivalent of manere:
Vnder what kynde of tre, Ps. of S., 336. Al kynde of fissches,
Wic, Matt, xiii. 48. Even what-kyn is influenced : Breve me,
bryght, quat-kyn of treys, Pearl, 63, 11.

Manner assumed at times the late native (uninflected) construc-
tion of cyn, hence : Of each maner evil, Holy Rode (Ashm.), 67.
Some maner comfort, Ch., Mill. T,, 495. Such maner doctrine, Pr.
T., 47. All maner fusoun, Libeaus JDes., 112. On the other hand,
the native construction seems to have reacted on late AngN. : Al
rays est acordez de totes maners ennuys, Pierre de L., i. 492 ; also
Fr, Ch, de L. Latin influence as well was at work, the appositive,
instead of the partitive genitive construction with pars, genus, &c.,
being common in non-classical Latin (Draeger, Hist. Syntax, i. 3).

v. APPOSITIVE NOUNS WITH OF.

AS. place-names, in addition to the simple form, such as Brytene,
Lundene, Temese, were frequently composite, i. A genitive of pos-
session entered: Edmundesburh. NorSmanna land, Oros,,i9^, 24.
West Seaxna rice, AS, Ch., 1 . Angelcynnes lond, ib,, 96. Baldewines
land [Flanders], ib., 305. Andredes ceaster, ib., 24. Brunnanburh,
ib., 200s Ascanmynster, ib., 86. -^gelesford, ib.y 279. ^sces
diin, ib,, 139. In rare cases, under immediate Latin usage, the
genitive replaced what logically was an appositive relation : Alex-

IV. NOMINAL COMPOUNDS AND PHRASES 6l

andrian byrig, iE., Lives, ii. i8i. ii. The appositive relation of
name and common noun was the common and native idiom:
Romeburh, Oros,, 28, 25. Eoforwicceastre, AS, Ch., 48. paet
land Arabia, Oros., 10, 35. Seo da Danai, td., 8, 16. Brytene
igland, AS, Ch., 3. On J>am dene Mambre, Gen,, 18, i. pa
muntas Caucasus, Oros,, 130, 16. -ffithiopica westenne, t6,, 12, 26
[= Aethiopica deserta]. iii. The common noun may be extended
by the use of the article or periphrasis : Nilus seo da, Oros,, 12, 19.
pam wsetere seo da hatte Tamese, AS, Ch,, 5. On Antiochia,
lb., 9 = On Antiochia Caere ceastre, tb., 8 = on Antiochia ceastre,
ib,y 9. IV. The Norse construction with set is found : To J^am porte
]?e mon hset set HseJ^um, Oros,, 19, 23.

The MidE. period offers abundant instances of the native con-
structions: To lond mesopotanie fer, G, and Ex,, 1360. Fro 6e
riche flod eufrate, tb,, 1256. To tSare haljan ceastre constantino-
polim, Holy Rood, 34, 28. lordanen J^sere se, tb,, 18, 26. Wyrol-
hram J>e cite, R. B., Ch,, 9616. pe Louh Lumyne { = Lomond), tb,,
10 1 95. pe hil Teynewyk, tb,, 10165. Two watres, Marne &
Seyne, ib., 10832. Inne Winchsestre tun, Laj., (b) 400.

Early in MidE. there appears, however, a new construction
destined to win supremacy over, though not to oust, the native

* flat ' appositives : Igland of Orcanie, AS, Ch,, p. 1 1 (MS. Cott.
Domit., A. viii, dated (Thorpe) c. 11 50; earlier MSS. Orcadus ))a
ealond, Orcadius J>a ^aland). De desert of refachim, G, and Ex,,
3352. Out of \>Q montayn of Synay, ib., 224. pe hul of Calvary,
Holy Rode {K^hm.), In J^e londe of Asye, *SV. Marg,, 18.
The Cite of Damace, Bev, of Ham,, x, 1042, The rayalme of
Fraunce, ib,, 2602. pe water of Teyne, R. B., Ch,, 10161. Ilde
of Albyon, ib., 1745. The cape of Fynestere, Ch., ProL, 408. The
toun of Athenes, K, T,, 115. The mount of Setheron, ib,, 1078.

It is worth notice that the first instance of the occurrence of this
new construction bears with it a trace of its origin. The form
Orcanie in the AS, Ch, is the Romance form as against the semi-
Lat. Orcadus or the native Orcaneg. The construction is, of
course, Romance. Instances of it are not unknown to Latin :
Urbem Patavi, Virgil, JB,, i. 247. Asturae fiumen, Livy, viii. 13,
&c. (Draeger, * Hist. Syntax der latein. Sprache,' i. p. 466, § 202
(2nd ed.).) In Med. Latin this took the form villam de Bertiniaca,
which became the general Romance construction (Stolz-Schmalz,

* Latein. Grammatik,' 417, § 65). Terre de France, mult estes dulz
pais, Ch, de R,, 1861. La terre d'Engleterre, Ch, d, N,, ii. 27940.
Le pais de Vermendeis, ib,, ii. 18261. La duchde de Normandie,
ib., ii. 1 131 1. Fieu de Normendie, ib., ii. 28101. Le reaume de
France, ib,, ii. 24473. ^^'^ d'Avalon, Wace, Brut, 9516. La citd de
Rome, Ch, d, N,, i. 1300. La riverede Somme, ib,, ii. 12272. Al
fluie de Ette, ib,, ii. 9321. L'eue de Gironde, ib,, ii. 4814. La cyte
de Loundres,7>-d?/>, 23249. Le flum de Humere, Livere de Reis, p. 44,

62 FRENCH ELEMENTS IN MIDDLE ENGLISH

The same history holds with the appositives of month. The
native names of the month gave place in AS. to Latin names,
used either alone : lanuarius, MenoL (Fox), 19, Martins, 73,
Mains, ih.^ 155 ; or in apposition with monaj) : se sol-monat$ . . .
Februarius, ib,^ 3 iff.; monaS . . . lunius, 210 ff . ; Aprelis
tnonaS, ib.y 112; BlotmonatS . . . Nouembris, ih.^ 387 f. The
genitive is rare, if indeed this be not a variant analogical nom. :
monaS to tune Decembris, 436 f. The new MidE. usage,
following the introduction of the OFr. names, is : the monthe of
Aueril, R. G., Ch.^ 506; the monJ)e of feuerer, 8238; J)e
monjj of June, Libeaus Des,, 1303.

This imitates OFr. : Le mois de Mars, Berry, Rec, de iV., 239.
Le meis d'Avril, Trote, 23249. El meis de Averil, Gaimar, 3247.
Le mays de August, Pierre de L., i. p. 26, &c.

Chronology. The influx of noun phrases is first noted in the
appositive construction with of, which appears as early as the
middle of the twelfth century; about a century later master-
frequently replaces head- in compound nouns. The real flood
of new phrasal nouns begins with the fourteenth century. From
1300 to 1350 we note the introduction of chief- for master-,
month of, manner of, man of arms, man of law, man of price,
brother-germain, brother-in-law, point of death, and the tautologies
custom and use, hue and cry, lord and sire, los and price. The
second half of the century extends these groups by man at arms,
merchant of wool, and additional tautologies.

Conclusion. The establishment of Romance influence in
nominal phrases as exemplified above seems warranted by the
indisputable influence of master-, chief-, on the native habit of
compounding with h^afod, and by the direct translation of fr^re en
loi, supplanting AS. dSum. The expression of the appositive re-
lation by OF is essentially a Romance, not a Teutonic construction.
It is interesting to see, in the case of * manner of,' what is abundantly
illustrated elsewhere, that the foreign word tends to bring into
the language that adopts it its own construction. The instances of
conventional tautologies are part of those stylistic imitations of
OFr. characterizing nearly all the fourteenth-century literature
of MidE. The full history of these phrases would disprove what
indeed the phrases here adduced suggest, that MidE. tautologies are a
matter of style or of habit, not a conscious adjustment of language
to the needs of speech in a bi-lingual people. (See Earle, Philology,
pp. 84 ff., 5th ed., contra,)

63

GENERAL CONCLUSIONS.

It has been shown that OFr. exercised an extensive and powerful
influence on the development of the meaning and phrasal uses of
important MidE. verbs, at times to the detriment of the native
idiom; that the same influence told in a characteristic feature of
MidE. expression and style, the figurative negative, which, virtually
unknown to AS., found its inspiration, form, and content in OFr. ;
that in subtle syntactical relations, as in the use of prepositions in
adjectival and adverbial phrases, there was a marked growth of
new constructions, accompanied by a modification or giving up
of old constructions, all under the influence of OFr. syntax ; that
existing nominal compounds in MidE. were affected, formations on
new types entered, conventional nominal phrases were borrowed or
imitated, tautological phrases were naturalised, appositive relation-
ship expressed by of in place-names, &c. — all after the example of
OFr. usage. We must therefore conclude : —

I, That a great factor in the changes which distinguish MidE.
from AS., and which persist as characteristics of Standard English
in Chaucer— changes that affect the phraseology, idiom, syntax,
style — is found to be the influence of OFr.

The attitude of modern scholarship may be represented by the
sentence already quoted from Professor Korting: * Nur im Wortschatz
ist das Englische halbfranzosisirt, im Uebrigen ist es germanisch
geblieben, und wo es dennoch dem Franzosischen ahnlich geworden
zu sein scheint ... ist dies nicht die Folge einer Angleichung
an das FranzSsische, sondern erklart sich durchaus befriedigend
aus den der Sprache von jeher eigenen Entwickelungsneigungen.'
This, too, was the opinion of Scheibner : * Von einem directen Ein*
flusse des Franz5sischen auf das Englische wollen die meisteii
Philobgen nichts wissen ; nur Keane [* Handbk. of the Engl&b'
Language,' London, 1875] nimmt an, dass die Tendenz des Eng-
lischen, die Flexionsendungen abzuwerfen, durch die Beruhrungeu
mit der franzosischen Sprache theilweise bestimmt oder beeinflusst
worden ist \' With these we must class, perhaps, Kellner, though

* *Ueber die Herrschaft der franzosischen Sprache in England,* p. 21.
Annaberg, 1880.

64 FRENCH ELEMENTS IN MIDDLE ENGLISH

his position is somewhat vaguely defined : * The influence of
French on Syniax Proper has been overrated. English syntax, in
the main, is still Germanic, just as English sounds, inflexions, and
word-formation are ^/ This opinion we consider no longer tenable.
!Einenkel represents a sane recovery from the extreme negative
view, which was itself a reaction from the rash generalisations of
Thommerel. *Der Einfluss des Afrz. auf das Me. zeigt sich
mittelbar in einer Beschleunigung des Triebes zur Analyse, un-
mittelbar in der Nachbildung zahlreicher, oft idiomatisch-roma-
nischer Ausdrucksweisen

2. From the chronology of the changes it is made manifest that
there is a law in the time of their appearance. These modifications,
due to OFr. influence, show an almost imperceptible trace in the
twelfth century, appear to a slight extent in the early years of the
thirteenth century, gain slight ground during that century, but only
in the first half of the fourteenth century do they manifest them-
selves in anything like the strength and fullness that characterize
Standard English as against Early MidE. In this respect Einenkel's
view is corroborated: *Das 14. Jahrh. ist der Angelpunkt in der
Entwickelung der engl. Syntax Hence : —

3. These changes are in essential respects in effective strength
before the time of Chaucer and Wycliffe, who must be regarded as
masters and not creators of their language. In this respect Mors-
bach's view, gained by an examination of the phonology and
inflexion of London documents, is upheld : * Sie (die neuengi
Schriftspr.) ist weder von Wyclif noch von Chaucer geschaffen*.'

4. These changes, as respects chronology, are parallel with the
growth of the French elements in the vocabulary of MidE., as
stated by Morris, Sturmfels, and others. *Die Ausbeute aus den
me. Denkmalem des 12. und der ersten Halfte des 13. Jh. fallt
Sparlich aus . • . Eine grossere Aufname afr. Worter fand erst in der
v8n Scheibner richtig als Zeit der Gallomanie charakterisierten
fcriode nach der Mitte des 13. Jh. (von Eduard I. ab) statt V

^ * Historical Outlines of English Syntax,' p. 308.

* * Paul's Grandriss der ger. Philologie,' i. p. 907,
3 lb., p. 930.

* * Ueber den Ursprung der neuenglischen Schriftsprache,' p. 168.

* Sturmfels, * Afr. Vokalismus im Mittelenglischen,' pp. 9 flf.

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