Final t for th in Middle English
From: Kim Bastin
Message: 42500
Date: 2005-12-14
Could I ask for help from the English experts on the list?
I have been puzzled recently by some Middle English 3sg present forms
ending in -it instead of the usual -eth or -es. Examples:
(I syng of a mayden) ...that fallyt on the gras
(I haue a gentil cook) ...crowyt me day
(ibidem) ... he perchit hym
(How! Hey! It is non les) Che takyt a staf and brekit myn hed
Since it occurs alongside _doth_ in some of the above texts, it is
perhaps excluded from monosyllables. It is of course clearly different
from the -t of contracted 3sgs.
I have done a little searching, particularly in the Cambridge History
of the English Language, but can find nothing about this 3sg form.
Clearly it was a minor player that has not survived, but what is its
status? If dialect - which one? When was it in use?
Thanks for any help
Kim Bastin