Wycliffe's Luke
Middle English Reading 1
Chapter 10 · Wycliffe's Luke
📜 Wycliffe's Luke
The last text is prose, and it comes in two versions, one from the 1380s and one from the 1390s. That lets us watch one text change in about a decade, which is the best test of the grammar we have. This chapter replaces the planned Malory, Caxton or Paston text, none of which I checked for a readable source; it then ends the course with a recap.
The text
| Verse | Early version (c. 1380s) | Later version (c. 1390s) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | And it was don aftirward, and Jhesu made iorney by citees and castelis, prechinge and euangelysinge þe rewme of God, | And it was don aftirward, and Jhesus made iourney bi citees and castels, prechynge and euangelisynge þe rewme of God, |
| 2 | and twelue wiþ him; and summe wymmen þat weren heelid of wickide spiritis and syknessis, Marie, þat is clepid Mawdeleyn, of whom seuene deuelis wenten | and twelue wiþ hym; and sum wymmen þat weren heelid of wickid spiritis and sijknessis, Marie, þat is clepid Maudeleyn, of whom seuene deuelis wenten |
The page's modern English, which names no translator: "And it was done afterwards, that Jesus made a journey by cities and castles, preaching and evangelising the realm of God: and with him (the) Twelve; and some women that were healed of wicked spirits and sicknesses; Mary who is called Magdalene, from whom ..."
Source: Wikipedia, Middle English, Sample texts, Wycliffe's Bible, Luke 8:1 to 3, early and later versions, and the page's translation column, as the page tool gave them in pieces under its quotation limit. I joined the pieces, and the later version's verse 2 starts mid-sentence in the page, so I set verse 2 as a whole. The modern English there stops where my reading stops. The article prints no word-for-word rendering of this item. My notes are mine and unverified.
What changed between the versions
| Early | Later | What differs |
|---|---|---|
| Jhesu | Jhesus | Final -s on the name |
| by | bi | y or i |
| castelis | castels | Plural -is against -s |
| prechinge | prechynge | -inge against -ynge |
| him | hym | i or y |
| summe | sum | Final -e dropped |
| wickide spiritis | wickid spiritis | Final -e on the adjective dropped |
| syknessis | sijknessis | Different spelling of the vowel |
| Mawdeleyn | Maudeleyn | w or u |
Most of this is spelling. Two lines in the table touch the grammar of Middle English Grammar 1, Chapter 4: the early wickide has a final -e before the plural noun spiritis, and the later wickid does not. The first 100 characters of verse 3 add a second pair: manye oþere in the early version, many oþir in the later. That fits what Chapter 4's source said, that multi-syllable adjectives took the -e less consistently later. Two pairs are not enough to prove it, and I only had the start of verse 3.
Walking through it
- Participles. prechinge and euangelysinge are present participles in -inge / -ynge (Middle English Grammar 1, Chapter 6). don in it was don is a participle with no i-; heelid and clepid end in a weak -id (the ending of -ed).
- Plural past forms. weren is the past plural of be that Chapter 7 gave. wenten is a past plural of go, but Chapter 7 listed wenden / yeden / yoden, not wenten, so I note the variation without explaining it.
- Plural nouns. citees, castelis, spiritis, syknessis, deuelis carry the strong plural, spelled -es or -is (Chapter 2, which said endings were "spelled variously" for the genitive; I extend that to the plural as my reading). wymmen is a plural with a vowel change; Chapter 2's source said nothing on vowel-change plurals.
- Pronouns and little words. him / hym is the object form (Chapter 5). þat is a relative pronoun ("who", "that") as Chapter 3 allowed. þe rewme uses the article of Chapter 3.
- The sentence order. twelue wiþ him has no verb of its own and continues Jhesu made iorney, as in the page's translation "and with him (the) Twelve". I note the order; the sources give no rule.
- Words from French. citees and castelis look French, and Chapter 9 listed no French source for them, so I do not claim it.
New words
| Middle English | Meaning | Modern English relative |
|---|---|---|
| aftirward | afterwards | afterward |
| iorney | journey | journey |
| rewme | realm (as the page translates) | realm |
| wymmen | women | women |
| heelid | healed | healed |
| clepid | called | yclept (archaic, my guess) |
| seuene | seven | seven |
| deuelis | devils | devils |
Recap of the course
| Chapter | What the text showed |
|---|---|
| 1 Reading Strategy | A routine: verb endings, pronouns, little words, nouns, negatives, spelling |
| 2 The Peterborough Chronicle | Early Middle English, c. 1137: old and new forms side by side |
| 3 The Ormulum | East Midland verse, c. 1180, with Orrm's own spelling system |
| 4 Two Bibles | West Midlands and Southern versions of one passage |
| 5 Chaucer's Opening | London English of the 1390s; the final -e at work |
| 6 Chaucer's Knight | Past tenses, the genitive, inversion in a portrait |
| 7 Sir Gawain | North West Midlands alliterative verse |
| 8 Gower | A text with a word-for-word rendering and two translations |
| 9 John the Smyth | An inscription of 1371, spelled by ear |
| 10 Wycliffe's Luke | Prose, and two versions a decade apart |
What the course could not give
- Long passages: my page tool limited each quotation, so every chapter reads a few lines.
- Four planned texts were replaced because no readable source could be found: Sumer Is Icumen In (the tool would not reproduce a lyric), the Lord's Prayer, Piers Plowman and Julian of Norwich (not checked), and the planned Malory, Caxton or Paston text in this chapter.
- Dialect labels for most texts: sources named a dialect only for the Ormulum, the two Bibles in Chapter 4, Chaucer and Gawain.
- Any edition, manuscript or grammar book. Every chapter used encyclopedia pages, as stated on each.
Try It Yourself
Say the answer first, then click to check.
1. Which two dates does the page give for the two versions?
Show answer
c. 1380s (early) and c. 1390s (later).
2. Which version has wickide, and which wickid?
Show answer
Early wickide, later wickid.
3. What does that difference suggest, and why is the evidence weak?
Show answer
The plural adjective -e being dropped later, as Chapter 4's source suggested; but only two pairs were seen, and verse 3 only in part.
4. Translate and twelue wiþ him.
Show answer
"And twelve with him" ("and with him the Twelve").
5. What ending shows the present participle in prechinge?
Show answer
-inge (later -ynge).
6. What is the past plural of be in verse 2?
Show answer
weren.
7. Why does wenten not match Chapter 7's table?
Show answer
The table gave the plural past of go as wenden / yeden / yoden.
8. Which chapter's text was a dated inscription, and from when?
Show answer
Chapter 9, the epitaph of John the smyth, 1371.
9. Which chapter's text was in alliterative verse from the North West Midlands?
Show answer
Chapter 7, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
10. What was the first step of the routine in Chapter 1?
Show answer
Look for the verb ending (or an irregular verb).