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

For sorow he my3te not nyght hym nere,
But euyr wepyd As he were wode (3444-5)
That glad I may not for no gamys gaye (3227).
(d) Without the adverbs ne and not
Ya, bors, drede the no wight (1880)
So vntrew fynd ye me neuyr mo (3680).
The manuscript of SMA is dated to the later period of the fifteenth
century and possibly localized in the Rutland area. Although the
feature of negation is not as progressive as in DT (see (17) above),
the characteristics of SMA are in the main later ones. As for ne, ne
not, and not, the form not is the most common, while the
employment of the adverb ne is much limited. Since a large
proportion of clauses with the adverb ne have lost it, ne ... not is
more limited than ne alone. This is a feature commonly attested in
texts with late ME features. The difference between the frequencies
of ne and ne ... not is not excessively large, however, which
indicates that ne ... not is still in the process of decline.
The decline of the adverb ne is evident in clauses with never,
no, etc. as well. Although the sporadic co-occurrence of p and
never, no, etc. is encountered from time to time in SMA, they do
occur far more frequently alone than with ne. The ample examples of
never, no, etc. without ne suggest that never, no, etc. have
established themselves as independent negative elements.
SMA is the latest text selected for the purpose of the present
study. The situation of the text, although it is in the main a later
ME one, represents a slightly less advanced stage than AMA and DT.
The issue may be dialectal, since both AMA (Lincoinshire) and PT
(Lancashire) are from areas further north than SMA (Rutland),
although PT is more westerly than SMA.
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