Yoko Iyieri PhD Thesis - Research@StAndrews:FullText - University ...

He sail noghte dere vs to-daye, the deuyil haue [his]
bones!
(AJiA 1783)
The issue may be related to the comparative weight of elements
concerned. An object pronoun, which is relatively lighter than an
object noun, may be less disturbin g as an intervening element. This
is suggested by the fact that even among pronouns, reflexive
pronouns or pronouns preceded by a preposition occur before not
less frequently than plain pronominal objects:
Compare with:
Ase he ne mi3te naut hym self
To confermynge crefte (WS 18/475-6)
And he ne wold not h y m-seif shewe (SMA 98)
Cuberd it ne val!) no3t to Je . W i!) 3onge children pieie
(SEL 119/20)
Mirakel, that I toc noht of the (EMH 119/14).
nam of h y men no3t agaste : !)ei mowe no3t helpe !)e"
(Ferumbras 2434).
Furthermore, some other light elements also intervene between the
finite verb and not as the examples below illustrate:
For 3ereS
Ne make!) so nau3t !)ane prest aid
Ac sadnesse of maneres
(WS 51/1426-8)
Sin !)at pite es nu noght herd (CM 9650)
He made here nat man to greue (HS 1613).
Apart from the two major issues discussed above (i.e. the
adverb not before the finite verb and the intervention of an object
pronoun between the finite verb and the adverb not), only
sporadically does the adverb not occur at irregular positions. There
is, however, another phenomenon which merits attention. In some
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