doune, 222.24; the herte whanne he is old he waxeth yonge ageyne, 703.20.1 84. Furthermore the reference of pronouns is often careless, confused and ambiguous: he lystned and herd an hors come, and one rydynge vpon hym, and whanne he cam nygh he semed a knyghte. And soo he lete hym passe, and wente there as the shyp was; and there he alyghte, and toke the sadel and the brydel and putte the hors from hym, etc., 708.21. 85. Prolepsis sometimes occurs: had done, 210.30; beheld hym how he aspyed hym what he Iusted, 261.24. In the following the pronoun subject is both proleptic and expletive: he was the founder therof Ioseph of Armathyes sone, 716.16. 86. The distinction is firmly kept between the partitive. construction with numerals, etc., and the construction of simple agreement. Thus, e. g., twelue of them, but always alle they, we alle, you bothe, etc., never all of them, bothe of you, etc. Note the following: that one spere hath feld vs al foure, 204.27; they sayd al, 204.28; and they were syxe mo, 220.16; they bledde bothe, 223.31; of theyr bothe sorowes, (Caxton's rubric); ye al Barons, 39.29; yet were they fyfty M, 53.13; both they had many woundes, 111.25; with his both handes, 444.36.2 3 87. The simple personal pronouns are still in active use as reflexives, but the intensive forms are far more common than in Chaucer. I fele myself - wery, 543.20; I enforce The two often exist side by side. Thus we have drede hym and drede hym self; kepe hym and kepe hym self, etc. (For a list of the commonest collocations see $ 313.) my selfe, 544.10. 1 Cf. Kellner, p. xxxi, d. 2 W. And ther they be all thre, 594. DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS. 88. The collocation and that, in the sense of the Greek Kaì Taûтa, occurs frequently: I shalle shewe yow somme to and that merueyllous, 145.12; shal make the torne ageyne and that lyghtly, 219.36. morne 89. As a demonstrative adjective, that is often used before an infinitive as equivalent to such: Allas that euer a kechen page shold haue that fortune to destroye suche knyghtes, 220.28. Cf. also: he- took the gaynest waye in that woodenes that many tymes he was lyke to perysshe, 243.31, where a clause takes the place of the infinitive. A similar use of that, before adjectives, survives as a modern provincialism. "He was that tired he couldn't stand." 1 For syr 90. This is sometimes used of persons, without any following noun: this shall neuer preue none suche. Brewnor desyred.euer worship and thys desyreth brede & drynke, 215.1. 91. That survives here and there as an article: that one hyghte kynge Ban, and that other hyght kyng Bors, 47.28. But that one save the other, 695.6. Besides this common collocation, a few phrases like the following occur: By that tyme that eyther had sene other, 193.29; but they are only sporadic. 92. Chaucer's contraction atte (at the) has disappeared. The form atte is merely a graphical variant of the simple preposition at: atte my windowe, 201.14; atte all tymes, 724.35. 93. The definite article is sometimes contracted, as in Chaucer, with a word beginning with a vowel: thestate, 1 Cf. Kellner, p. xxvii, f. thother, thauys, thaffray, thoppynyon, thabyte, thempyre, thoryent, thold, thende, thordre, thauenture, thystory, therth, thacheyuyng, thabbey. These forms are less common than in Chaucer. They are not invariable, and they occur most frequently in Caxton's preface, rubric and colophons. 94. The definite article often occurs, as in Chaucer, where it would be expletive in modern usage: from the dethe, 201.18; here at the hande, 213.17; whyle me lasteth the lyf, 131.19; plonged ouer the hede, 243.30; as it had ben the thonder, 267.2; at the nyghte, 690.27; the yonder knyghte, 146.1; holdyng up their handes toward the heuen, 659.1; dranke the wyn, 231.10. The construction is probably due to French influence. INTERROGATIVE PRONOUNS. 95. All four interrogatives, who, whyche, what and whether are used in both direct and indirect questions. 96. Whether keeps its proper sense, 'which of the two,'1 whether lyketh you better the suerd or the scaubard, 74.2; ye shal stande betwixe them both, and whether ye lyst better to go to, he shal haue yow, 146.24. But sometimes it is displaced by whiche: we thougt to preue whiche of vs bothe was better knyzt, 105.29. 97. What is used of persons in the sense of who: asked her what she was, 231.22; Now wotest thow what I am, 723.12.2 6 (a) What a in the sense of what sort of' occurs at 72.21: I told you - what a knyghte he was. 1 The interrogative whether survives in Defoe: "we might get a great deal or a very little, we did not know whether." Captain Singleton, I, vii, p. 157. 2 W. What deuylle art thou, 316 (i. e., 'who the devil art thou?'); Fayne would I wete what they were, 541. 98. Chaucer's adverbial use of what in the sense of 'why' is very rare: what profryst thow proude knyghte the so boldly, 176.13. 99. Who is used (rarely) with a following partitive genitive, where whiche is usual: syre Cador tolde who of his knyghtes were slayne, 172.8.1 RELATIVE PRONOUNS. 100. That is by far the commonest relative, occurring alike in restrictive and non-restrictive clauses. 101. That is used as equivalent to that which, or what: the vertu of my rynge is that that is grene it will torne to reed, 257.31; now haue I certefyed the of that thow stodest in doubte, 697.16; there may noo man hold that wille aweye, 300.27.2 102. Whiche and the whiche are used as adjectives: smote hym on the hede whiche stroke stynted not, etc., 170.15; to the whiche tente our knyghtes rode, 169.20.3 103. The use of whiche with reference to persons is too common and regular to need citation. 104. Which is sometimes used after so and such, where the proper correlative is as: I haue none soo hyghe a thynge whiche were worthy to susteyne soo hyhe a suerd, 698.10. 1 W. shows a compound interrogative form what that: And of his garlond hadde ferly ('wonder ') 2 W. Yheue me some mete (ye be to blame), Of that the wyfe ye brought, 491. So Bacon: "when a man lets fall Signes and Arguments, that he is not that he is." Of Simulation and Dissimulation (Wright, 19.25). 3 W. of roses whyte that wyll not fade, Whych floure all ynglond doth glade, 668. (a) That is used in like manner: who myghte be soo blessid that myght see openly, etc., 712.20. But the correlation with so is frequently irregular (see so, § 385.4). 105. The ordinary sense of what (that which,' 'whatever') is retained in its adjective use: a mayde in what place she cometh is free, 704.5; delyuer hym to what poure man ye mete, 39.6 (where what is used, as frequently, of a person). 106. What occurs sometimes as an indefinite in the sense of 'somewhat,' 'some': Thenne there felle to them what of Northwalys and of Cornewaile — to the number of a four score knyghtes, 805.5. (a) What - what is used with prepositional phrases in the sense of 'partly — partly': what for drede and for loue they helde their pees, 75.24; they rode fresshly — what by water and what by land, 101.9; what forwounded and what forbled, 350.26. 107. Whos and whom are sometimes used of antecedents without life: the floure of the lyly, in whome vyrgynyte is sygnefyed, 715.29; oure lord sente hem the Sancgreal, thorow whoos grace they were al waye fulfylled, 722.13.1 108. The compound forms with that are regular in Chaucer. That was originally appended, it is likely, to indicate the relative force of a form properly interrogative, just as it was appended to adverbs, etc., to indicate their conjunctive force (see § 388.4). In both cases that gives the word to which it is appended the force of an introductory particle. 109. Of these compound relative forms, (a) what that and (usually) who that are general relatives: I shall abyde what auenture that cometh, 110.36; what 1 For the use of but as a relative see § 361.2. |