2 Louise Pound 



han't) for Jws not and have not. Not (e, ei) in any person of 

 either verb. 



In the eighteenth century, outside of contractions purely dia- 

 .lectal (for the numerous dialect contractions of the negative, 

 cf. the Eng. Dialect Diet., Ed. Wright), three forms are found. 

 These are in't, an't (for pronunciation, see below), and ain't, 

 ain't being apparently the latest form of the three, while in't is 

 the first to disappear. Cf. Richardson, Pamela (1740), III, 

 Ixxii, "Oh, dear heart, thought I, in't it so!"; F. Burney, 

 Cecilia (1782), I, viii, "However I assure you it in't true." Dr. 

 Murray, N'eiv English Dictionary, quotes as his earliest example 

 of a)i't, the plural, 1706, E. Ward, Hud. Rev. (1711) I, 1. 

 24, "But if your Eyes an't quick of Motion, They'll play the 

 rogue." His first example of an't =ani not is 1737, Hist. Reg., 

 I, i, "No more I an't, sir"; and for an't =is not, 1812, H. and 

 J. Smith, Rejected Addresses, 69, "No, that an't it, says he." 

 The earliest occurrence of ain't noted is 1778, F. Burney, Eve- 

 Una, I, xxi, "Those you are engaged to ain't half so near re- 

 lated to you as we are." Some other eighteenth century exam- 

 ples of an't (ain't is rarer) are: Sheridan, Rivals (1775), IV, 

 i, "I suppose there an't been so merciless a beast in the world" ; 

 F. Burney, Cecilia, I, ix, "Why, sure, madam, an't you his hon- 

 our's lady?"; lb., I, iii, "It won't do; an't so soon put upon.'" 



In the nineteenth century, an't and ain't are found side by 

 side, with ain't monopolizing popularit)'- only in the last half : 

 Dickens, Pickzvick Papers (1836-37), vi, "There an't a better 

 spot" ; lb., xix, "Very easy, ain't it" ; Nicholas Nickleby 

 (1838-39), Ivi, "It an't time"; lb., iii, "Her name ain't Nick- 

 leby"; Oliver Twist (1837-38), xxvii, "An't yer fond of 

 oysters" ; lb., v, "Yer the new boy, ain't yer" ; Edzvin Drood 

 (1870), V, "It ain't a spot for novelty"; Thackeray, Vanity Fair 

 (1847-48), xiv, "The sneak ain't worthy of her." In America 

 also,' an't was widely written in the first half of last century. 

 Sylvester ..Judd, Margaret (1855), has only an't. "Them an't 

 yarbs. They won't doctor" I, v; "She an't a flower," lb. Cf. 



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