496 
to ryden out, he lovede chyvalrye, 45. 
al weré they soré hurt, and namely oon, 
that with a speré was thirled Ais brest boon, 2712. 
I saugh today a corps y-born to chirche, 
that now on Monday last I saugh Aim wirche, 3430. 
among thesé children was a widow sone, 
that day by day to scolé was Ais wone, 14915. 
Without the personal pronoun : — 
I have a brother, quod Valirian tho, 
that in this world I lové no man so, 12164.* 
So, without that : — 
and to be bounde undur subjeccioun 
of oon sche knew nat As condicioun, 4691. 
b. Which frequently has the signification of what, 
what sort of (like welch in German); as, which a 
miraclé [ther] bifel anoon, 2677. 
So, 40, 2950, 3611, 5621, 6875, 10896, 117545 
16065. 
c. Which (the which) is often redundant, as in the 
following phrases : — 
the place which that I was inne, 10891, iii. 122. 
hem whiche that wepith, ii. 330, 348. 
his love the which that he oweth, iii. 110. — 
d. What is used for why, like Latin guid, Ger- 
man was: — 
what schulde he studie and make himselven wood ? 
184. 
what schulde I alway of his wo endite? 1382. 
e. What is used in an indefinite sense (like Ger- 
man etwas, was) T : — 
wite ye what? (— wissen Sie was ?) 10305, 17014. 
* Mr. Guest considers the relative in these cases to be 
a nominative absolute, equivalent to respecting which, &c., 
and cites from Shakespeare an instance closely resembling 
this last. 
Her frights and griefs, 
Which never tender lady hath borne greater. 
Winters Tale, Il. 2. 
The low English of the present day use which in a 
variety of unaccountable ways, and Mrs. Gamp’s talk in 
Martin Chuzzlewit is in this particular perhaps not exag- 
gerated. “I know a lady which her name, I'll not de- 
ceive you, is Harris," — “If she had abuged me, being in 
liquor, which I thought I smelt her wen she come," — are 
phrases similar to the last two of Chaucer’s. 
1 So apparently, at first, in the colloquial “Ill tell you 
what (Ich will Ihnen was sagen)”: but the emphasis put 
on the what shows that it is not now regarded as indefinite. 
OBSERVATIONS ON THE LANGUAGE OF CHAUCER. 
Jf. Whoso is frequently used in the sense of if 
any one. 
eke Plato seith (who so that can him rede), 743. 
is wryten, God woot (who so cowthe it rede), 4615. 
for craft is al (who so that do it can), 9890. 
Herodes (who so wel the story sought), 13903. 
$ 105. Indefinite Pronouns. 
a. Peculiar uses of one : — 
ire is a sinné, oon the grete of sevene, 7587. 
sche was on the fairest under sonne, 11046, 8088. 
so wel arraied hous as ther was on, 11499. 
b. Peculiar use of ought (like the German etwa 
= forte) : — 
can he ought telle a mery tale or tweye? 12525. 
$ 106. PREFIXES. —.The prefixes for- (Ger. ver-, 
Lat. per-, con-) and to- (Ger. zer-, Lat. dis-) have 
not lost their force in Chaucer. The following are 
some examples of their use : — 
for-pyned, 1455. for-kutteth, 17272. 
for-do, 1562, 14538. for-kerveth, 17272. 
for-drunken, 3122, 4148. for-trode, iii. 92. 
for-thinketh, 9780. for-slowthith, iii. 143. 
for-druye, 10723. for-sluggith, iii. 143. 
for-fered, 10840. for-lesith, iii. 155. 
for-brosed, 16100. for-letin, iii. 175. 
to-hewen, 2611. to-tore, 12563. 
to-schrede, 2611. to-breketh, 12835. 
to-broken, 2693. to-tere, 13889. 
to-skatrid, 7551. 
$ 107. NEGATIVE SENTENCES. — Chaucer follows 
the Anglo-Saxon practice with regard to negatives, 
which was (like the Greek) not, as in modern Eng- 
lish, to negative the copula only, but to give a 
negative character to as many words as were suscep- 
tible of being thus affected. Two negatives are per- 
haps more common than one, and verses can often be 
restored to good metre by restoring a ne which has 
been dropped. 
he ne was nought gay, 74. ne trist him never, II. 342. 
ther nys no more to seye, no thing schame ne hadden, 
. 1124. iii. 105. 
ne been not, ii. 240. 
ther nas no dore that he nolde heve, 552. 
he never yit no vilonye ne sayde, 
in al his lyf, unto no maner wight, 71. 
