English Interjections in Fifteenth Century 27 
Magnyfycence, 1725: Hens, thou haynyarde! York Plays, xix, 
120: Hense! tyte, but pou pe hye. 
hee. Evidently a variant of the verb hie, to go, to begone! Cf. 
hye, hy, as a call of encouragement (XVI, 3). 
Towneley Plays, xiii, 489, Uxor: So hee! Mankind, 373: 
Hye yow forth lyuely! for hens I wyll yow dryffe! 
trus. Meaning be off! ME. trussen, trushen, to go, to be off, as 
- one who has been sent packing. The primary meaning of 
trussen is to tie up, to pack. 
Towneley Plays, xii, 202, Pastor: Trus! go we to mete. 
vta. Meaning is obscure. Perhaps the word is connected with 
vath. Cf. vath expressing contempt, in VI above. It may be, 
however, a purely imitative sound. Or it may be a call for 
attention. See XVI, 4, below. 
York Plays, xxxi, 234, Rex: Kyte oute yugilment, vta! 
oy! oy! 
XIV. Affirmation and Negation 
The list of interjections showing affirmation is remarkable for 
its length, while, on the other hand, one word, with its variants, 
indicates negation. 
The number of expressions used to strengthen a declaration is 
noteworthy. In the fifteenth century, evidently, truth-telling was 
a virtue not always practised, and a simple statement was hardly 
to be credited. This condition, doubtless, gave rise to the still 
greater number of oaths and asseverations (see class XVII) 
originally used to urge the truth of an assertion. 
Amen. Through Latin (or French) and Greek, from Hebrew 
a-mén, certainty, truth, which is from the verb aman, to 
strengthen, to confirm. 
York Plays, xvii, 35, Primus Rex: Amen! so myght it bee. 
Towneley, xii, 189, Pastor: fare fall the!—Garcio: Amen! 
_Coventry, viii: Amen, ffor charyte. Mankind, 303: Amen! for 
sent charyte, amen! Mankind, 718: Amen! (dicant omnes). 
Coventry, viii, Chorus: Amen. Occleve, To the Blessed Virgin, 
387 
