PATTERSON ON NEWFOUNDLAND DIALECT. lix 
“He was about seventy five fathoms long,” &c. Other objects are 
spoken of as ‘‘she,” not only boats and vessels, but a locomotive. Of 
this old usage we have a remnant in the universal use of the feminine 
for ships. 
Another old form still common is the use of the singular fhee and 
thou, where now the plural you is commonly employed. With this is 
joined what is still common in parts of England, the use of the nomina- 
tive for the objective, and to some extent the reverse. 
Some peculiarities may be noticed also in the formation of the past 
tense of verbs. Thus the present save becomes in the past sove, and 
dive in like manner dove. But the very general usage is to follow the 
old English practice of adding “ed.” Thus they say runned for ran, sid 
for saw, hurted for hurt, falled for fell, comed for came, even send for 
sent, and goed for went. This last however is true English, retained in 
Scotland in gaed, while went does not belong to the verb at all, but is 
the past of another verb to wend. More curious still is the use of doned 
for did or done. Perhaps however this is not common. 
The use of the letter ‘“‘a@” as a prefix to participles or participial nouns 
to express on action still going on, is still retained, as a-walking, a-hunt- 
ing, etc. 
Again in some places there is retained in some words the sound of 
eat the end where it is now omitted in English. Thus “hand” and 
* hands” are pronounced as if written “ hande” and “handes.” This 
is old English. We find it in Coverdale’s version of the Bible, 
Tyndale’s New Testament, which however sometimes has “ honde ” and 
“ hondes,” and Cranmers. 
A number of words written with ay and with most English speaking 
having the long sound of a, are in Newfoundland sounded as if written 
with ag. Thus they say w’y, aw’y, pr’y, pr’yer, b’y, for away, pray, 
prayer, bay. So n’yebors for neighbors. This pronunciation is still 
retained in Scotland, and R. Lowell refers to it as in Chaucer, and 
quotes it as an example of the Jastingness of linguistic peculiarities. 
In their names of objects of natural history we find the retention of 
a number of old English words. Thus whortleberries or blueberries are 
called hurts, nearly the same as the old English whurts or whorts, 
marked in the dictionaries as obsolete. ‘Then they call a flea a lop, the 
Anglo-Saxon loppe from lope to leap, and wasps they eall waps, which is 
the same with the Anglo-Saxon waps and the low German wepsk. <A 
