El 
OBSERVATIONS ON THE LANGUAGE OF CHAUCER. 
commonly) drops the e of the above-mentioned ter- 
minations. 1 
loved, 166, 1198, 1204, prayed, 15011. 
3222, 4418. caused, 1097. 
loked, 2044, 2521. had, 3191, 3388. 
trowed, 2103. seyd, 2707, 4234, 5647, 
answerd, 3136. « 13361. 
grasped, 4291. wend, 4302. 
dwelled, 1978, 4554. 
semed, 39, 315, 324, 
- nold, wold, 4378, 13312. 
schuld, 2707, 4008, 
2664, 13230. 17081. 
defendid, 5642. herd, 4166. 
thanked, 15665. styked, 4929. 
went, 3319. woldé, 278. 
clapt, 3738. madé, 2990. 
hight, 1015, 4011. 
put, 13236. 
thought, 1387. 
brought, 11585.* 
€. The Second Person Singular of the Imperfect 
Indicative of simple verbs is formed in -est, like 
tHe Saxon, and English. 
lovedest, 1164. usedest, 2387, etc. 
brendest, 2386. haddest, 2389, etc. 
But thou axid occurs, 7064. 
answerdé, 12261, 12359. 
saydé, 14100. 
laydé, 15585. 
§ 54. Imperfect of Strong, Complex, or “ Irreg- 
ular," Verbs. 
a. A few verbs have, besides the Strong Imper- 
fect, a later form of the other conjugations, e. g.: — 
sleep (S. slép), 98, 5165, 9731; slepte, 4192 f; slept, 
11033. 
weep (S. weóp), 2823, 2880, 8421; wepté, 148. 
creep (S. creáp), 4224, 4258 ; crepte, 4191 f. 
The following cases are suspicious, and some, if not 
all of them, bad readings : — 
bifelle, befille, fille, 9771, 10390, 10007, 10883. 
dronke, 7643. 
* The rhyme in this and several other cases will show 
conclusively that the final e was actually dropped, and 
not simply left off by the copyists : — 
brought (rh. nought), 11585. 
went (rh. yhent, participle), 12462. 
asterted (rh. converted, part.), 4857. 
ameevyd (rh. agreeved, part.), 8374. 
redressed (rh. oppressed, part.), 11748. 
aspyed (rh. allyed, part.), 16014. 
ayled (rh. i-sayled, part.), 16586. 
473 
eete, 15703. (Tyrwhitt has a good reading.) 
come (to), 1729 (should be, “com unto "). 
badde (foure), 4911 (should be, “bad the foure "). 
see has various forms: saw, 11503, 11505; saugh, 
193, 766; seigh, 852 ; seyh, 957 ; say, 8543, 15929, 
etc. (A.-S. seáh, séh.) 
sihe, 11162f (if correct), is an instance of an é 
arising from the softening away of a guttural. 
ryngede (the tromp and clarioun) occurs 2602; rong, 
14077. The conjugation of the A.-Saxon hringan 
is uncertain, but it would be strange if a verb weak 
.in Saxon had become strong in English. 
b. The 2d Person Singular of the Imperfect In- 
dicative of Strong Verbs (which in A.-Saxon termi- 
nates in €) has commonly in Chaucer no termination, 
or is the same as the 1st and 3d. 
thou bihight, 2474. thou bar, 8944, 11976. 
* gaugh, 5268. * spak, 12422, 14168. 
* swor, 8372. * dronk, 15712. 
thou flough, 16717. 
thou were, 16146f, 16718, iii. 180, 
181; weré, neré, 4786, 13635, 
15866, 15888, 15892, 17177. 
* gave, 15937. . 
* songé, 17226. 
knewest occurs, 4787. 
hightest “ 8372? 
bygonnest * 12370. 
The e is 
doubtful in 
these, and 
especially in 
j gave, songé. 
§ 55. The Plural of the Imperfect Indicative (both 
of Simple and Complex Verbs) ends, — 
a. in -em. 
wolden, 27. dronken, 822, 2716, 15686. 
weren, wern, 28, 29, 593, fillen, 951. 
630, 958. faughten, 1838. 
prayden, 813. ronnen, 2927. 
ferden, 1649. seeten, saten, 2895, 11520. 
foyneden, 1656. founden, 4663. 
brenden, 2427. songen, 5798. 
passeden, 2576. comen, 8353. 
oughten, 3964. gaven, 12343. 
sayden, 6507, 6509. token, ii. 382; tooken, ii. 
. broughten, 8683. 365. 
wenten, 11525, etc., etc. 
b. in Ge? 
hadde, 375, 381, 762. founde, 1011 f, 14184. 
sayde, 1435. blewe, 2514. 
