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LXII. Early Application of Latin Grammar to English

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 December 2020

Sanford Brown Meech
Sanford Brown Meech*
Affiliation:
University of Michigan
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Extract

In the past two years, partly to supplement in special fields the collections of the Middle English Dictionary, I have been searching the catalogues of manuscripts of English libraries for mediæval curiosities. Of these, early grammatical writings in English are not the least interesting. I have now four Latin grammatical pieces written in English in the fifteenth century: I, an anonymous grammar in St. John's College (Cambridge) MS. 163, f. 1a, printed below; II, another from Trinity College (Cambridge) MS. 0.5.4, f. 5a, printed in Essays and Studies in Eng. and Comp. Lit. in the series in Language and Literature, University of Michigan, xiii (1935), pp. 81–125; III, another in Douce MS. 103, f. 53a, printed below; and IV, a disquisition by a schoolmaster of Beccles (Suffolk), one John Drury, on the comparison of adjectives and adverbs in Cambridge Additional MS. 2830, f. 54a, printed in Speculum, ix (1934), 70–83. (I shall usually refer to them herein as I, II, III, and IV.)

Type
Research Article
Information
PMLA , Volume 50 , Issue 4 , December 1935 , pp. 1012 - 1032
Copyright
Copyright © Modern Language Association of America, 1935

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References

1 Ed Keil, Grammatici Latini (Leipsic, 1857–80), iv, 355–366. It has a short appendix on accords added to the eight parts of speech.

2 See Meech, op. cit., pp. 87–94.

3 James, M. R., The Western Manuscripts in the Library of Trinity College, Cambridge, A Descriptive Catalogue (Cambridge, 1900–04), iii, 301–308.

4 James, M. R., A Descriptive Catalogue of the Manuscripts in the Library of St. John's College, Cambridge (Cambridge, 1913), pp. 194–197.

5 I can only refer the reader to my four texts passim, for their treatments of the parts of speech in English.

6 Palaestra, lii (1906), 339.

7 I, p. 1019; II, Essays and Studies, xiii, 102; III, p. 1029; IV, Speculum, ix, 79.

8 I, p. 1205; II, Essays and Studies, xiii, 113.

9 I, pp. 1020–21; II, Essays and Studies, xiii, 105–106; III, p. 1029.

10 Quellen und Forschungen, xc (1903), 54.

11 P. G., Grammatica Anglicana Precipuè Quatenus à Latina Differt, ad Vnicam P. Rami Methodum Concinnar a (Cambridge, 1594), p. 32. I used rotographs of the British Museum's copy of this book loaned me by Professor C. C. Fries.

12 I, p. 1020; III, p. 1028.

13 I, p. 1022; III, p. 1030.

14 I, pp. 1023–24; II, Essays and Studies, xiii, 110–111; III, p. 1031.

15 Bullokar, op. cit., Palaestra, lii (1906), 353–354. I have turned Bullokar's phonetic spelling into conventional spelling of today and modernized capitalization and punctuation.

16 P. 1024.

17 Essays and Studies, xiii, 112.

18 P. 1031.

19 Pp. 1025–26.

20 II, Essays and Studies, xiii, 115; III, pp. 1031–32.

21 I, pp. 1023, 1026; III, pp. 1030, 1032.

22 The adjective in this sense is not recorded in the OD, but the substantive is, in 1530.

23 Imperfect (imperfect tense), adj. is recorded in the OD. in 1530. It occurs in the grammatical treatise in Trinity College (Cambridge) MS. O.5.4, Essays and Studies, xiii, 116.

24 Essays and Studies, xiii, 95–97.

25 Ed. Forshall and Madden (Oxford, 1850), i, 57.

26 Ed. Skeat (Oxford, 1886), pp. 91, 93.

27 I have used the text of this in B.M. Addit. MS. 27944.

28 Ed. Herrtage, EETSES, xxxiii (1879), 416–418.

29 Ed. Herrtage, EETS, lxxv (1881).

30 By in Qwerby is written above the line.

31 To is written above the line.

31 a Aftyr is written in the left margin.

32 In os written in the left margin.

33 The last five lines of fol. 2a and the first twenty-nine lines of fol. 2b are devoted to paradigms of musa, domina, Thomas, magister, dominus, Laurencius, scamnum, sacerdos, felix, manus, and res. These are of slight interest and are omitted.

34 The paradigms of the Latin pronouns are given on fol. 4a–4b. Fol. 3b, on which the treatment of the verb begins, intervenes between the above treatment of the pronouns and their paradigms. At the bottom of fol. 3a is this note for the reader: “The nownys of þis part be in þe lef folwyng,” and at the bottom of 3b: “Turne ouyr to þe next lef.” I have omitted the paradigms.

35 Paradigms of amo, doceo, lego, audio, sum, possum, volo, nolo, malo, fero, edo, fio, with English equivalents, occupy fol. 5b, l. 20–10b l. 20.. These I omit.

35 a He endyth in Englysch written in the left margin.

36 At this point the scribe wrote the beginning words of the section of conjunctions by error and then crossed them out: “[Q]werby knowyst a coniunccyon? ffor it joyneth or disioyneth oþyr partys of reson & ordeynyth in hem perfyth sentence Qweche þe coniunccyons þat joynyn? Al þe wurdys þat be in das copulatiuas.” Following this come paradigms of the participles amans, legens, lectus, lecturus, and legendus, which occupy fol. 11a. l. 30-fol. 11b. l. 4. I have omitted them.

37 Da per posicyones accusatiui was writteen by error and not excised.

38 Preter written in the left margin.

39 The fourth and sixth cases are referred to, i.e., the accusative and the ablative.

40 Oyle. May only have been intended here?

41 H was written by error and not excised.

42 How was written by error and not excised.

48 De in degre is written above the line.

44 Fer is written in the MS. with an o written directly above the e.

45 Case is written above the line.

46 The scribe made a false start with How knowyst, but did not excise it.

47 His for is.

48 Cugeas for cujas.

49 Knowyst, of course, should not be here.

50 As is written above the line.

51 Aris is written above the line.

52 Indicatyf is an obvious error for infynityf.

53 The is written above the line.

54 Fugur, for figur.

55 Of the is written above the line.

56 Of tyme is written above the line.

57 Yn sus is written above the line.

58 Two letters of a word were written before be-gynnyth and the first letter illegible to me was crossed out. The second letter is e.

59 To is required; not to be.

60 An illegible letter is added to taзt.

61 Shall should be omitted.

62 Some error has spoiled the sense here.