494 OBSERVATIONS ON THE 
lipsede, 266; E. lisped. 
clapsud, 275 ; E. clasped. 
§ 99. Accent. — Many words of French origin 
have two accents ; sometimes on the final syllable, or 
the penult; sometimes thrown further back, as in 
English. 
bataille, 990, 2404. 
benigne, 520, 8973. benigne, 8287. 
discrèt, 8286. discret, 520. 
fortüne, 917, 1240, 1254, fortune, 927, 1244. 
13710, 16172, 16209. 
honést, 14972. 
laboür, 14874. 
bàtail, 2099, 2542. 
honest, 246. 
làbour, 8093, 12705. 
natüre, 11, 10667, 13710. nàture, 10801, 13424, 
13444. 
povert, 4519, 6767, 6773, povert, 6749, 6761, 6765, 
8692. s 13856. 
prayer, 2269, 2334. preyer, 2423. 
prisoin, 1177, 1272,1453. prisoun, 1087, 1109, 1238. 
resoün, 37. resoun, 1768, 4639. 
servise, 2489, 1805. servise, 122. 
squyer, 79, 1732. squyer, 1500, 1556. 
vertüe, 4, 14882. vertu, 1438, 2751, 8092. 
victorie, 2241,2407,2435. victorie, 874, 2422. 
Examples of the French accent : — 
ther nas discórd, rancoür, ne hevynessé, 8308. 
glori and honour, regné, tresòr, and rent(é), 15697. 
So, Aprille, Averil, 1, 6128. April, 4426. 
Arcita, Arcite, 1114, 1128, Arcita, Arcite, 1154, 
1147, 1350, 1395,1527, 1346, 1598, 2258, 
1530, 1542, 2860, 2941, 2423, 2690, etc. 
etc. 
Cresüs, 16245. Crésus, 1948, 16213. 
Grisildes, 8108, 8131, Grisildes, 8086, 8173. 
8211, 8304, ete. 
Noe, 3534 f. Node, 3539, 3560. 
Plato, 13376 f, 13384, Plato, 13381, 13391. 
13388. 
Venüs, 1906, 2223 f. Vénus, 1920, 1939, 
1951. 
. So, also, with the nouns of Saxon derivation, in 
-ynge, yng (see $ 17): 
and felàwe, félaw (see $ 18) : 
mellére, myllere, 544f, 3167f; méller, 3923, 
3993, 3998, 4008 : 
. yemàn, 6962, 12612, 12629; yéman, 101, 6977, 
12555, 12580. 
LANGUAGE OF CHAUCER. 
$ 100. SYNTAX ror Measures, KINDS, ETC. — 
a. Nouns denoting a substance measured, weighed, 
or numbered are not put in the genitive, as in modern 
English; but are in apposition with the noun denoting 
the measure, etc. (as in Saxon sometimes, and in 
German regularly). 
a peyre dys (G. ein Paar Würfel), 4384, 14038. 
a peyre plates, 2123. 
a barel ale (G. eine Tonne Bier), 15379. 
a botel hay (G. ein Bund Heu), 16946. 
a busshel whet, 7328, 4310. 
half a quarter otes, 7545. 
the beste galoun wyn, 16956. 
a morsel bred, 15920. 
b. Nouns denoting sort or kind are in like manner 
followed, not by the genitive, but by a noun in appo- 
sition (as also in German). 
a maner deye (G. eine Art Milchfrau), 16332. 
a maner sergeant, 8395 ; so, 9681, 11742, 11745. 
no maner wight, 71, 2546. 
what mestir men, 1712. 
no kyn monay, 14749. 
c. Nouns denoting measures of various kinds are 
not put in the plural after a numeral (as also in Ger- 
man). 
syn thilke day that she was seven night * old, 16359 ; 
this fourténight, 931 ; thritty winter * he was old, 
14437, 15545, 7233 ; a child of twelf month old, 
14895; foure yer,* 8487, 8612, 13445. 
twenty thousand scheld, 14763. 
fourty pound, 7688, 13289. 
fyvé mylé, 12483 f. 
an hundred thousand del, 17069. 
d. Sometimes numerals preceded by the article a 
are treated like nouns, the thing numbered being put 
in the plural number, but still not in the genitive 
case (compare, a few pears, a great many men, a 
dozen books). 
* Night and winter (S. niht, winter) have commonly the 
plural like the singular in Saxon (instead of nihta, wintras), 
but this is not a peculiarity of inflection: it is a conse- 
quence of a principle of syntax. Year (S. gear) might 
have the plural like the singular at any rate: still the 
cases cited are fair instances of the rule. Fortnight 
(fourténight, 931) has become a compound noun, and so 
has twelvemonth (a twelve moneth, 653), but these forms 
properly come under c and d. ` 
