The Inflexions
of the Gawain-Poet
What is an inflexion? Without going into technicalities, an inflexion
(also called a grammatical ending) is the part of the word that
carries grammatical information. Some examples. If you start with
the word boy and add the plural inflexion -s,
you get the plural form boys. If you start with the word
talk and add the past tense inflexion -ed, you
get the past tense form talked. It's that simple.
The hard part is that Middle English has many more inflexions than
Modern English--and more grammatical categories to go with them.
Luckily, most of the added grammatical categories are plural forms
which we don't have any longer. However, there is also a good deal
of variation in the inflexions used by the Gawain-poet.
The reasons for this are given in the section on Background.
Memorise the forms that differ from your expectations as
a Modern English reader. You won't believe how much time it will
save you!
Nouns
The possessive (modern 's) is spelt -es, or -ez.
Occasionally, there is no possessive inflexion, as in heuen-quene
'heaven's queen'.
The plural is generally -s, -es, or -ez
(very rarely -us). Occasionally, there are plurals of the
ox-oxen type; the most common is y3en 'eyes'.
There are also a few words where the inflexions is just -e,
especially after numbers. Words of the man-men type are
the same in Middle English, but note that both fete 'feet'
occurs once as fotez.
Pronouns
The possessives my 'my', žy 'thy, your' are myn,
žyn before words beginning with vowels.
The following pronouns are extremely difficult for Modern English
speakers. LEARN THEM WELL.
- The word for 'she' is regularly ho, though it occurs
as scho five times.
- The word for 'they' is žey. The word for 'them' is
hem or hom. The word for 'their' is normally
her or hor. There are occasionally appearances
of žayr.
The Gawain-poet often uses forms like himself,
herself, to mean 'him', 'her'.
The pronouns žou 'thou', že 'thee', and žy(n)
'thy, thine' can be translated 'you', 'you', and 'your' respectively.
The plural equivalents 3e, yow, yowre
(and various other spellings) may be translated the same way. However,
please note the following discussion taken from pages 144-145 of
the Tolkien/Gordon edition:
In the second person the pl. 3e, yow, etc.,
is generally used in addressing one person regarded as socially
superior, as by Gawain to Arthur (343 ff.), by the castle porter
to Gawain (814), byt the guide also in the first part of the dialogue
(2091-125 except 2110), but not the latter part (2140ff.); also
as a matter of courtesy between equals, as by Gawain to the lady
and to Bertilak (not to the guide), and by Bertilak as host, in
contrast to žou, že of the Green Knight;s rougher
manner, both to the King and to Gawain, and their hostile return
of the same forms. In the scene at the Green Chapel the Green
Knight begins with žou, but changes to 3e with
his change of attitude at 2366, though he reverts to žou
for a sentence at 2391-6. Gawain follows with 3e at 2385,
though not 2379. Though the general lines are clear, there is
some inconsistency. Bertilak uses žou at 1674-9, and
in 2444-70 he changes from žou to 3e and back
again in a friendly speech which might have been expected to call
for the plural throughout. There is a similar mixture at 1068-71.
In view of these variations too much cannot be made of the lady's
occasional žou to Gawain (1272, 1746, 1799), or Gawain's
response at 1802. (Chaucer's usage in Troilus and Criseyde
in any case shows that, at a comparable lever of society, the
plural was normal even between lovers.)
Verbs
The verb system differs most markedly from that of Modern
English, so study this section closely.
The basic form of the verb, called the infinitive, originally
ended in -en in Middle English. In Sir Gawain and the
Green Knight, some of these forms have survived (seruen
'serve', sauen 'save'), but the ending had already subtantially
disappeared. Most infinitives in the poem have a final -e,
but often even this is left off.
Present Tense
- With the pronoun I, the verb ends in -e or
nothing.
- With a singular noun or the pronouns žou, he,
and ho, the verb ends in -(e)s, -(e)z,
or -tz.
- The expressions me žink, me žinkkez mean 'it
seems to me'. Likewise hym žynk 'means it seems to him'.
- With a plural noun or the pronouns we, 3e,
and žay, the verb ends in -(e)n. More rarely it ends
in -e or -es, -ez.
Past Tense
- Verbs of the drive-drove type form their past tenses
with no ending, or occasionally -e, in the singular.
In the plural, they normally have the ending -en, but
occasionally -e.
- Verbs of the talk-talked type form their past tenses
with -de, -te with a singular noun or pronoun.
However, with the pronoun žou the form is -des,
-dez, -tes, -tez. In the plural, the
ending is often -den, -ten, but more often -ed.
Imperatives (Commands)
- The singular has no ending or ends in -e. The plural
ends in -(e)s, -ez, or -e.
Present Participle
- The present participle is the form of the verb in 'I am working'.
In the Gawain-poet's dialect, the ending is normally -ande,
but there are two examples of -yng.
Past Participle
- The past participle is the form of the verb in 'I have driven'
or 'I have worked'. For drive-drove verbs, the ending
is -(e)n (examples: driuen 'driven', cummen
'come'). For work-worked verbs, the ending is -(e)d(e)
or -t (examples: sesed 'ceased', layde
'laid', lost 'lost').
Modals
- It is not necessary to know all about modal verbs here. The
main point worth observing is that the word may 'may,
can' is both singular and plural; however, a separate plural form
mowe also occurs.
This is by no means an exhaustive analysis of the inflexional system
of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, but learning features
described above well will help you get through the text faster.
When you think you are comfortable with all this, proceed to the
next section.
Last
Update:
10 August, 2004
|