In relation to the changes in English grammar during the Middle English (ME) period, Burnley (2000) notes that, among other things, restructuring included:

• Reduction of the inflectional system. (see Loss of Inflections)

• The definite article is commonly realized as the. (c.f. Old English (OE) paradigm)

• A greater inflexibility in relation to word-order. (see OE Grammar)

• Loss of grammatical gender.

• The increased use of prepositions.

• Arising out of phonetic changes, the appearance of new pronominal forms.

Burnley (2000) also mentions the substantial changes occurring within the English verbal paradigms throughout the Middle English period. Added to this was the standardization of plural forms.

In this section, the subjects of grammatical gender, pronominal forms and prepositions are briefly reviewed together with the changes affecting verbs and plurals. The "s-less" genitive is also examined. Examples of archaic forms retained in Yorkshire dialect are provided from Wakelin (1977) and the SED (the Survey of English Dialects : the numbers following each reference to the SED appearing below indicate, respectively, the volume, part and page numbers in which the cited examples appear.). Finally a selection of ME texts written in the Yorkshire dialect of the period are analyzed.

Loss of grammatical gender

Examples of grammatical gender are provided in the OE Grammar pages. The loss of this feature and the development of natural gender has been linked to the loss of inflections. Baugh and Cable (1993) note that the grammatical form disappeared earlier in the north where inflectional weakening also occurred first. In contrast, inflectional decay was slower in the south, an area where grammatical gender was retained for a much longer period. For example, Smith (1999) draws attention to the fact that there is evidence of its southern retention well into the 14th century and cites the Middle Kentish text The Ayenbite of Inwyt which has been dated to 1340.

Prepositions

Crystal (1995: 44) notes that following the loss of inflections the use of prepositions became "particularly critical". For example, compare the following renderings of "to the ships":

Old English	scipum
Middle English	to the shippes

Pronouns

Burnley (2000) observes that the appearance of new forms borrowed from the Scandinavian settlers is well documented in 12th century manuscripts, e.g. scœ "she" and "they". Regional variations are highlighted by Barber (1993) who draws attention to the fact that, during the Middle English period, the tendency was for northern forms to penetrate southwards.

Although no longer employed in Standard English some ME forms have been retained in dialect. For example:

Second person pronouns

The following table illustrates the forms of the second person pronouns :

Historically, form the 13th century onwards , the singular forms were employed among family members, to address children and when speaking to individuals of a lower social group. The y- forms were used in upper class society among social equals and to address social superiors (either through age or status). Trudgill (1999) suggests that the loss of the th- forms from Standard English was occasioned by the ever increasing use of you to signal respect or politeness when talking to a solitary person. This practice became so extensive that, by the 18th century, the singular forms had fallen completely out of use except in certain dialects. With regard to Yorkshire, these forms were preserved in both the North and East Ridings and in some areas of the West Riding.

Feminine third person singular pronoun

The origins of the standard form she are obscure but shoo is derived from ME s(c)ho which in turn perhaps originates from so (the OE feminine form of the). Hoo or oo is derived from ho (OE she).

Possessive "its"

The OE neuter form was his . However, in the 14th century a new form hit appeared, and entered general use, particularly in the West Midlands. Both forms continued to be employed until 17th century. Its made its appearance in the south towards the close of the 16th century. Wakelin (1977) suggests its formation may have originated through analogy with his or it + the possessive affix -'s.

Reflexives

All these forms have their origins in the Middle English seluen.

Plural forms

With the exceptions such as children, oxen and brethren, all plural forms came to be identified through the use of word-final <s>. This was the standard plural form in the North and North Midlands areas (and therefore in all probability for Yorkshire as a whole) by 1200 AD. However, the -en plural form (see below) continued to be employed in the south until the 13th century. (Baugh and Cable, 1993).

Concerning childer, the Northern / North Midland Middle English form was childre (<OE cildru, plural cildra). The form kye links back to Middle English ky(e) (from OE cÿ, plural of c). Peas (from Old English pise, plural pisan) became the plural form in Standard English through the processes of analogy.

The verb

With regard to verbal paradigms in the Early Middle English period, Burnley (2000) notes that the distinction between the 3rd person singular and plural became less audible. In effect, the Old English inflections of -es and -as became -es and -es in northern areas, (forms which tended to penetrate southwards) the latter subsequently giving rise to the modern form of 3rd person singular. For example, Middle English 3rd person come took the following forms:

Burnley (2000) continues by drawing attention to the formation of the present participle. The Old English construction (e.g. standende "standing") had, by the time of Chaucer, given way to a new form (e.g. standyng). Similarly, infinitive forms such as standen ("to stand") were not only being marked by 'to' or 'for to' but could be found without out final -en.

In relation to OE strong verbs, during the Early Middle English period these either disappeared or became weak through the processes of analogy. As such only 68 such verbs passed into modern English though not always in a recognizable form.

Modern English	Old English
	Infinitive	Preterite sing.*	Preterite plural	Past participle
slay	slan	slg	slgon	slægen
fall	feallan	foll	follon	feallan
bear	beran	bær	bron	boren
*(1st / 3rd pers.)

In the case of some strong verbs, modification of past participles and past tenses was based on the vowel of either the past participle or the past tense singular. For example:

Form	Infinitive	Past tense sing.	Past tense plural.	Past participle
Old English	btan	bt	biton	gebiten
Revised form	bite	bit	bit	bitten
Old English	drincan	dranc	druncan	gedruncan
Revised form	drink	drank	drank	drunk

Though such levelling also occurred in dialect the outcome could be different. For example:

The "s-less" genitive

The standard form (i.e. -'s and -s') has its origins in Middle English -es. As noted by Wakelin (1977), during the Middle English period this "spread from nouns which regularly had the ending in the genitive singular to those which originally did not". However, a number of words resisted this development, e.g.:

• Those already ending in -s

• Those whose "regular genitives" ended in -en.

• Nouns ending in -er and having no -es genitive (e.g. OE brþer, mder etc)"

Pyles and Algeo (1993) refer to the "s-less" genitive which they claim continued to exist throughout the Middle English period and survived into early Modern English. By way of example they cite Chaucer's "In hope to stonden in his lady grace" and "by my fader kyn". Compare the following examples of traditional dialect:

Yorkshire dialect in the Middle English Period

Smith (1996) provides the following versions of The Cursor Mundi which illustrate both the Yorkshire dialect of the period and contrasting northern forms.

A West Riding (Early 14th C)	B Lancashire (c.1400)
Man yhernes rimes for to here, And romans red on maneres sere, Of Alisaunder þe conquerour; Of Iuly Cesar þe emparour; O grece and troy the strang strijf, þere many thosand lesis þere lijf;	Men couettes rimes for to here And romance rede of mony maner of Alisaunder þe conquerour of Iuly cesar þe emperour Of grece and troy þe grete strife þer many þousande lost þaire life
C Mixture Lincolnshire / Yorkshire	D Modern English
Men ernis iestes for to here, And romance rede on maner ser, Of alexander þe conquerour, Of Iuli cesar þe emparour, Of grece and Troye þe strong strijf, þere many thosand lesis hir lijf,	One likes to hear rhymes and romances read in various ways - of Alexander the conqueror, of Julius Caesar the emperor; the fierce war of Greece and Troy, where many thousand lose their lives,

He notes that all versions contain distinctly Northern characteristics although C is "something of a mixture". Even in the few lines shown here, the following features are notable:

• Version A: the <a> in strang ("strong") reflects the late OE .

• Versions A and C: the adjectival ending -e (lost early in Northern England) is omitted respectively in strang strijf and strong strijf ("the furious strife").

• Version A: the present plural ending -is appears in lesis ("loses").

• Versions A and B: the Norse derived pronominal form is present, i.e. þere / þaire.

• Version B: displays the phonetically redundant -e in thousande.

• Version B: mony replaces sere ("various").

Note however in version C that <o> appears in place of late OE in strong.

Similarly, northern features are also found in this 13th century verse fragment from York.

Leith (1996) draws attention to the fact that the text displays Scandinavian influence through the use of thaim (from Old Scandinavian þeim) instead of Old English hem (from whence the origins of 'em as in I don't want 'em). Also, in relation to lies, the third person singular verb inflection -s is employed in place of -þ. Leith also remarks on spelling conventions employed i.e. s for sh (i.e. sal for shall) and q for wh (as in qwa).

Sources

Barber, C. (1993) The English language: a historical introduction, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Baugh, A.C and Cable, T. (1993) A History of the English Language, Fourth Edition, London: Routledge.

Burnley, D. (2000) The History of the English Language: a source book, Second Edition, London: Longman.

Burrows, J. A. and Turville-Petre, T. (1992) A Book of Middle English, Oxford: Blackwell.

Crystal, D. (1995) The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Dick Leith, The origins of English. In Graddol, D., Leith, D and Swann, J. (1996) English history, diversity and change, New York: Routledge.

Mitchell, B. and Robinson, F.C. (1968) A Guide to Old English, Second Edition, Oxford: Blackwell.

Pyles, T. and Algeo, J. (1993) The Origins and Development of the English Language, Fourth Edition, London: Harcourt Brace.

Trudgill, P. (1999) The Dialects of England, Second Edition, Oxford: Blackwell.

Wakelin, M.F. (1977) English Dialects: An Introduction, Revised Edition, London: The Athlone Press.