Relative Pronouns in An Alphabet of Tales, a Fifteenth Century ...

31
Relative Pronouns in An Alphabet of Tales, a Fifteenth
Century Northern Text
Toshio
Saito
Department of English, Nara University of Education, Nara, Japan
An analysis of the relative constructions in An Alphabet of Tales with special reference
to relative pronouns is attempted in this paper as part of the present writer's survey
of the relative constructions in 15th Century English. The study is intended to present
a general picture of how relatives are used in the Northern language of the late ME
period. The work under investigation is a Northern English translation (c. 1450)1 of the
Alphabetum Narrationum of Etienne de Basancon. The prose of the book reflects the
colloquial language of the period though it is an English translation from the Latin.2
The text used in this survey is An Alphabet of Tales, pt. 1 edited by Mrs. Mary Macleod
Banks (EETS, OS. 126, 1904).
1. 0. FORMS
In the present survey the passages of narrative exposition (abbr. NAR) and those of
discourse (abbr. DIS) are separately investigated since it is naturally expected that there
is some difference in linguistic levels between the two.
Relative pronouns are classified into two groups: (1) relatives with an antecedent,
(2) relatives without an antecedent. The relatives of the latter group may be divided
into simple forms and compounds.
The following tables show the relative forms and the total numbers of their examples
found in the text examined.
TABLEI
Relatives with Antecedent

32 Relative Pronouns in An Alphabet of Tales, a Fifteenth Century Northern Text (Saito)
TABLE
II
Relatives without Antecedent

Relative Pronouns in An Alphabet of Tales, a Fifteenth Century Northern Text (Saito) 33
ing to my survey, the proportion between pat and wA-forms in MS Harley 7333 of Gesta
Romanorum (c. 1440, Midland; abbr. GR)7 and The Book of Margery Kempe (c. 1430s,
East Midland; abbr. MK)S is as follows:
NAR
GR 224 (61.5^) : 140(38.55^)
MK 354 (47.7#) : 387(52.3^)
DIS
280 (74.996) å 94(25.
299 (72.9&) : 98(27.
As to another colloquial material, Paston Letters (1422-1509, East Midland;abbr. PL),
when countings in Carstensen's work9 are manipulated, we shall get the rate of approximately
5&%: A7%. The statistics of these three works discloses that already in the Fifteenth
Century OT/z-forms, especially (pe) which, are rather highly developed even in colloquial
prose, at least from the numerical point of view.10 Mustanojall states, "In later ME the
dependent use of which becomes increasingly popular and develops into a mannerism at
the hands of many 15th-century writers." In this respect An Alphabet of Tales is quite
distinct from these three works. The present writer is not sure if this leads to the conclusion
that wh-iorms are scarce in the colloquial type of 15th Century Northern English.
Further investigations have to be conducted on ther Northern texts.
1. 1. The figures of the following table indicates the situation better.
TABLEIII
r : restrictive relatives
nr : non-restrictive relatives
Restrictive wh- forms are negligible, being used in only 1.2^ of the cases, while with
the non-restrictive clauses they have already gained some ground, being used in 14.7%'
of the cases. This is the sphere where anaphoric wh-iorms first came into being in early
ME, and where they still linger in late ME.
1. 2. There are 32 instances of relatives reinforced with pleonastic conjunction pat or at.12
Northern at appears also in this function.

34 Relative Pronouns in An Alphabet of Tales, a Fifteenth Century Northern Text (Saito)
TABLE
IV
Points of significance in these figures are:
(1) The combination pat pat or pat at is not found.
(2) Pleonastic pat is preferred in combination with whilk and possibly with whom. At
goes with what and zt>/za-compounds.
(3) This combination is used more frequently in NAR than in DIS. It may be worth
noting that 17 of all the 27 examples of whilk is followed by pat or at. In GR and MK
the combination with pleonatic pat is not so popular, and it appears less frequently in
NAR than in DIS.13
i. (NAR) whilk pat per was a preste pat servid in a kurk of Saynt Agnes, whilk pat
on a tyme was hugelie vexid with temptacion of his flessh 32-31/per was a wurthi
knyght whilk pat did many enjuries vnto Lowisll3-26/ he made paim a law att pai
kepe yit, whilk pat is callid Machomett law 165-20. whame pat he commandid to gar
feche vnto hym on pat hight Joseph, pat was a lew, whome pat he had sene be reuelacion
at sulde be a crysten man 74-20/ he suld be made rewler of paim, whame pat
God shewid for be pe Holie Gaste 165-12. whatt som euer pat Whatt howr som euer
pat a synner forthynkis his syn 58-4.
(DIS) whilk pat I hafe a pale face for I had mynd of pe paynys of hell, whilk pat I
mond hafe bod if I did penance for my syn 56-33. whome pat Other mens wurdis sail
neuer noy a man, how pat evur pai say, whom pat his consciens fylis noght 45-19.
ii. (NAR) whilk at and tolde hym my dissese, whilk at I durste not for shame tell att
hame vnto Euagerus 92-7. pe whilk att ffor pat, he said, was most delicious, pe whilk
att mans witt cuthe ymagyn off trewthe in a mans saule 103-25. what at & what at
God wolde hafe dene 165-18. what att evur he suld do what att evur hym plesid to
byd hymdo 148-16. (DIS) what at evur what at evur I hafe sail be pine 49-25.
1. 3. It may be added here that we have found only7 cases where the 0-form introduces
what Jespersen calls 'contact-clause.' Subject-relation: 3 exx.; object-relation: 2 exx.;
adverbial: 2 exx. They are all found in NAR.
i. per was a lew /0/ wonnyd in pe town 143-23/ his Abbot...was war of a lytle blak
boy /0/ led hym onte be pe shurte of his clothis 79-25/ 10-25.
ii. and wolde not lefe for noght/0/ sho cuth do 26-10/ pai wold bete hym for pe skorn

Relative Pronouns in An Alphabet of Tales, a Fifteenth Century Northern Text (Saito) 35
10/ he gaff permaister 141-6.
iii. I sail no meate eate vnto tyme /0/ I know if ourLord will hafe mercie of pe or
noght 48-7.
This scarcity of examples with 0-forms is not due to the fact that this is a translation
from the Latin, but probably it only reflects the late development of this construction in
English.14 This is not popular in GR and MK either.15
2. 0. Whilk ; pe whilk
Whilk (

36 Relative Pronouns in An Alphabet of Tales, a Fifteenth Century Northern Text (Saito)
113-26/ per was a husband-man whilk pat vsid, & all his howse-meneya, gretelie to
herbar pure folk 251-12. rnpS with pat pai wer streken with a lepre whilk held paim
vnto per lyvis end, & made ane end of paim 83-17. nrpS per was a holie Saynt pat
hight Maria de Oginiez, whilk pat oft sithes punysshid hur selfe with grete abstinence
17-ll/And pe iij frend is almighti God, whilk patt putt both His life & His sawle
for His frendis 43-ll/ 2-ll/ 3-4/ 7-3/ 15-6/ 17-ll/30-19/ 32-31/ 38-5/ 71-6. nrpO per
was a man pat had a son of xv yere age, whilk pat he luffyd passandlie wele, &
broght hym vp tenderlie 82-9. nrpR when he saw pies ij men, of whilk pe tone sulde
be sent furth pis message, he consydured at 72-7. nrpA per was a passand Cfavr maydyn)
pat hight Thaysis, whilk maydyn hur modir in all hur yong age lete (6l6~} accordand
to hur will 2-31/. per was a man boun in a howse pat had a fend in hym, whilk
fend cawsid pis to vpbrayd ilkone at come in 123-16/ 2-ll/ nrnpS ye sail ynderstond
pat pis ffurst frend is we[V]ldly possessions, whilk pat when we dye giffis vs bod a
wyndyng clothe to lap vs in 43-8/ and come ad Montem Gaudii, whilk pat is bod halfe
a lewke fro Saynt Iamys 256-28/ 165-20. nrnpO and tolde hym my dissese, whilk at
I durste not for shame tell att hame vnto Euagerus 92-7. nrnpA in pe bowndis of
Cleopilas, of whilk region Pytaphar pe preste was prince 61-23.
(DIS) rnpR whare pou gat so gude spicis purgh whilk all our chawmer is fyllid so
. full of gude savir with 117-31. nrnpO I hafe a pale face forI had mynd of pe paynys
of hell whilk patI mond haf bod if I did penance for myn syn56-33/ I sail gif pe for
my rawnson iij wisdoms, whilk & pou kepe, sail be grete profett vnto pe 132-12. N.B.
This whilk functions as the object of the adverbial clause. It is an instance of relative
concatenation.
ii. pe Whilk (NAR) rnpR yit he said he forgatt a thyng, withoute pe whilk all oper
pinges may nott profett 145-ll/ he had a certan vyneyard of pe whilk he had yereiie x
ton of wyne 168-20. nrpR per he saw ij grete men, ofpe whilk pe tane was an Erie,
and pe toder a grete prelatt 151-29/ and pai wer hyelie accusid be for our Lord. Agayns
pe whilk, purf all hym semyd passand grevid,..., he putt ourhis sentans 151-30/ 214-31.
nrnpO ffor pat, he said, was most delicious, pe whilk att mans witt cuthe ymagyn off
trewthe in a mans saule 103-25. nrnpR And aboute pis towre was per ane entre with a
hy wall, with-in pe whilk per was fayre treis & frutefull of dyvers kyndis 62-18/ And
pis 'bisshop with grete devocion reseyvid it, purgh vertue of pe whilk he come agayn
vnto his right mynde 113-5/ 52-20/ 62/5. nrnpA Be pe whilk ping it is for to trow
what meknes (DIS) rnpR I conjure pe & chargis the purgh pat charite be pe whilk
laste day I ete fless for my monke sake, at pou tarie here no langer ll-4.
A study of the figures of Table V and examples above reveals the following facts:
(1) Whilk and pe whilk are by far more non-restrictive than restrictive in the material
examined.19 A further probing into the examples tells us that there are few instances
where whilk introduces a continuative clause, while pe whilk is continuative in all the
examples but one.

Relative Pronouns in An Alphabet of Tales, a Fifteenth Century Northern Text (Saito) 37
(2) Both of them can be used as personal as well as non-personal relatives. There seems
to be a slight tendency that while whilk is more personal than non-personal, pe whilk has
stronger non-personal character.20
(3) Whilk is mostly used in subject function. On the other hand pe whilk functions as
a regimenof a preposition in all the cases exept one.
These facts taken into consideration, it may be concluded that there is a functional
differentiation between these two forms at least in this Northern text: pe whilk is mainly
used as a regimen of a preposition in a continuative relative clause, whereas whilk appears
in other functions than that. Furthermore, pe whilk is rarely followed by a pleonastic
conjunction pat or at, though whilk seems to be normally reinforced by pat or at.21
A further scrutiny reveals an interesting fact. When a relative modifies an antecedent
which already has a relative clause or clauses, pe whilk is never used in the text, with 10
examples where whilk appears. In this case the combination whilk pat is always used
except when whilk is attributive. This gives evidence that whilk pat has more carrying
force than plain whilk.
pat...whilk pat We rede of a monk pat hight Hubertus, whilk pat when he shulde
dy, he askid straytJie pat pe abbott myght com vnto hym 15-6/ per was a knyght pat
was in purgatorie, whilk pat was a gude man & luffid wele for to herber pure folk 71-
6/ 2-ll/ 3-4/ 17-ll/ 38-5/ 32-31.
pat...whilk per was a passand [7ayr mayden^] pat hight Thaysis, whilk maydyn hur
modir in all hur yong age lete C^o^J according to hur will 2-31.
pat...whilk pat...whilk hym happend to mete with ane Abbott pat hight AppolJinus,
whilk pat knew pe cauce of his gate oute of his ordur, whilk abbott comfurtid hym
with fayr wurdis 2-ll.
At...whilk pat he made a law att pai kepe yit, whilk pat is callid Machomett law
165-20.
3. 0. Who; Whom; Whose
The following examples are all that are found in the present text.
a) Relatives with antecedent: Whame (NAR) rpO pat he shulde chese paim one of
ij, whame pai namyd 200-5. rpR he suld be made rewler of paim, whame pat God

38 Relative Pronouns in An Alphabet of Tales, a Fifteenth Century Northern Text (Saito)
shewid for be pe Holie Gaste 165-12. nrpO he commandid to gar feche vnto hym on
pat hight Joseph, pat was a lew, whome pat he had sene be reuelacion at sulde be a
crysten man 74-20. nrpR War vji maydyns pat servid pis Assenech, with whame spak
nowder childe nor man 62-12. (DIS) nrpO Other mens wurdis sail neuer noy a man,
how pat evur pai say, whom pat his consciens fylis noght. 45-19.
Whose (NAR) rp per was a mayden whase name was Alexandria 14-19. (DIS) nrp pis
my trew felow vuchesafe to hele of his lepre, for whose luffI was not ferd to shed my
childre blude 40-20.
b) relatives without antecedent: Who (NAR) & he had as who say nothyng to sell
108-8. Who som-evur (NAR) who som-evur had it shulde bryng it agayn 232-9.
This scarcity of who-iorms indicates the more retarded development of them than that
of which in the history of English. No examples of anaphoric who are found in the text.
It is also the case with MK and GR. According to Carstensen,22 sporadic occurrences of
who in this function are perceived in PL. Ryden states, "Who did not come into common
use as an anaphoric relative until the 16th century. In 15th century English it is rare
except in certain stereotyped epistelary phrases."23 As to as who say in the above example,
Visser says it was frequently used in Middle English.24
It is impossible to say anything about the functions of these forms in question on these
scanty examples, but Mustanoja says, "There seems to be some tendency to use who
(whose, whom) in non-defining rather than defining relative clauses."25 His statement
applies to the examples found in MK and GR.26
4.0. What
ll instances with what are found in the text. What as a relative which has the value
of that which occurs 7 times in all (5 in NAR and2in DIS). The rest are the examples
of relative adjectives. What takes at, not pat when it is reinforced with a pleonastic
conjunction. See §1.2.
What (NAR) & bad hym do with hym what he wolde 37-16/ pis yong felow at
bere pis crippill hard what he said 231-14. (DIS) pou harde nott whatt I commawndid
pe 5-6/ ye sail nott witt what I say 140-17.
What at (NAR) he told paim all what at he saw 86-21/ & what at he mott safe
over his meatt & his clothe, he wold go... & gi ff it vnto pure men 202-12/ 165-18.
The first example of what at is interpreted by Mustanoja27 as a case in which what is
anaphoric.
As to the scanty occurrence of what, ,we are referred to Partridge's statement, "The
neuter relative what without antecedent is found as early as the 13th C, but did not come
into regular use until the 17th C."28
In treating what (=that which), other parallel expressions such as pat and at are also
to be taken into consideration. Table VII confirms Partridge's remark. At and pat at are
more frequent than what.
pat (NAR) a man pat is shamefull vnprofitable sulde titter fynde pat he desyrid,

Relative Pronouns in An Alphabet of Tales, a Fifteenth Century Northern Text (Saito) 39
pan pat ping att askid 37-29. Note the contrast between pat and pat ping att. /sho
sulde do vnto hym pat sho did neuer vnto no noder. 251-5.
At (NAR) he myght grawnt hur at sho askid 75-27/ he began to forthynk at he
had said 139-3/ 65-24/ 103-18/ 158-27/ 159-18/ 184-2/ 191-12/ 246-12/ 252-18. (DIS)
Gyff me at I ask the 28-7/ Almi3tti God reward pe at pou hase done for me
58-32/ 36-18/ 41-8/ 153-8/ 194-18/ 244-1.
pat pat (NAR) how pat was taken fro hurpat God had giffen sho told hym 113-19.
pat at (NAR) sho was innocent of pat at sho was accusid of 12-19/ noman myght
speke fayrer pat at he wold speke pan he bid 218-16/ 29-28/ 69-19/ 98-21/ 141-9/
218-10/ 218-16/ 224-20. (DIS) wo isme for pat at sail happyn 118-17/ 168-23/ 65-16/
80-9/ 89-ll/ 164-28.
It at (NAR) he said he was redie to profe it at he had told hym 154-12.
pat ping pat (NAR) make not sorow for pat ping pat is verely loste 132-17.
(DIS) pu desyris me for to do for pe pat ping pat is vnhoneste 41-10/ 132-29.
pat ping- pat (NAR) sho bad hym neuer to desyre to gett pat ping at he myght
not gett 132-16/ 37-29/ 85-27. (DIS) when I se pat ping at I desire 17-29/ 132-30.
TABLE VII
5. 0. pat; At
In this section an attempt is made to find if there is any differentiation in function
between these most common relatives in this Northern text. In Early ME pe and pat were
current as relatives, and Angus Mclntosh successfully clarified the functional distinction
between the two forms in the Midland dialects.29 A cursory glance of the examples of
pat and at collected for this survey does not give the present writer any hope to find
such a clear-cut functional difference between them. The difference might be only that of
statistical frequency. Nevertheless, it would be worth trying because there has been no
work dealing with this Northern form at as far as I know.
5. 1. In the present text pat occurs 690 times in all (NAR 584: DIS 106), and at occurs
340 times (NAR 263: DIS77). Therefore, pat is about twice as frequent as at. But the
above figures indicate that the ratio of pat to at is different in the two different categories
of passages. The proportion between them is 68.8 : 31.2 in NAR anb 57.9 : 42.1 in DIS.

40 Relative Pronouns in An Alphabet of Tales, a Fifteenth Century Northern Text (Saito)
This fact that at is more frequent in DIS than in NAR may be interpreted to show its
colloquial and informal character. OED may be quoted again as saying it is a worn-out form of
pat. Is it too much to assume that there is some difference in speech level between pat
and at just as there is between who/which and that in present-day English To confirm or
discard this assumption, an examinationhas to be made on more literary prose than this text.
5. 2. When the examples of relatives with antecedent are classified according to
personal/nonpersonal, restrictive/non-restrictive and subject/object/adverbial relations, we get
the following table.
TABLE VIII
Ad : adverbial O includes objects of verbs and regimens of prepositions.
As a relative without antecedent pat occurs 2 times in NAR only, and at does 10 times
inNAR and 7 times inDIS as is shown in Table II. In this function at is the norm.
See§4.0.
5. 3. Restrictive & Non-restrictive Table VIII shows the following figures in terms
of restrictive/non-restrictive function.
NAR
DIS
pat r 480: nr 102 r 78: nr 28
at r 200: nr 53 r 50: nr 20
These figures do not tell us that there is any distinction in this function between the two.
They both function non-restrictively as well as restrictively. Continuative relative clauses
are quite rare, that is to say negligible in both pat and at. With this respect compare
these forms with whilk and pe whilk.
5. 4. Personal & Non-personal From Table VIII we get the following statistics concerning
personal and non-personal uses of pat and at.
NAR
DIS
pat p456:np126 p64:np~~42
at 122: 131 26: 44
578 257 90 86

Relative Pronouns in An Alphabet of Tales, a Fifteenth Century Northern Text (Saito) 41
Points of significance in these figures are:
a) In NAR personal relatives are over two times as frequent as non-personal ones,
whereas in DIS both types of relatives are almost equally frequent.
b) With the personal antecedent pat is definitely preferred to at in both NAR and
DIS. In refering to the non-personal antecedent both pat and at are used with almost
equal frequency.
c) The ratio of personal to non-personal pat is 78.4: 21.6 in NAR and 60.4:39.6 in DIS.
At shows the proportion of 48.2 to 51.8 in NAR and that of 37.1 to 62.9 in DIS.
b) and c) considered, it may be said that pat has more personal character, -while with
respect to at the non-personal force is stronger though it is frequently used in both functions.
5. 5. Case Relation The following tabulation is obtained from Table VIII when the
instances with pat and at are considered in terms of subject/object function:
From these figures interesting points emerge:
a) As a whole subject-function is far more frequent than object-function in this text.
b) With personal relatives subject-function predominates.30 In both NAR and DIS pat
is used with greater frequency to perform this function.
c) With respect to non-personal relatives, on the other hand, object-function occurs more
frequently,30 and it is performed by at with predominance.
The conclusion in the preceding section is positively endorsed by the figures in this
table. It may roughly be said that the main job of pat is to perform the subject-function
as a personal relative while that of at is in the non-personal/object-function.
5. 5. Types of Antecedents Types of antecedents are to be examined in order to make
a further scrutiny of pat and at. The antecedents may be classified roughly into three
groups:nouns, pronouns, and clauses (or phrases). The following are the statistics for the
distribution of pat and at in terms of antecedent types. Only 4 instances are found in
which a relative refers to a clause. Two of them are the cases with relatives in frontposition31
which have alreadybeen given in §1. 0. Note 3. The other two are the following:

42 Relative Pronouns in An Alphabet of Tales, a Fifteenth Century Northern Text (Saito)
(NAR) pe devull sett fire perin & burnyd it vp & destroyed itt euere dele, pat all folke
mott se 199-8/ a syluer pece wasput in his skripp privalie, at he wiste not off 257-9.
TABLEX
N : noun antecedent P : pronoun antecedent C : clause antecedent
As may be expected, noun antecedents are far more frequent than the other two, the
percentages of N, P and C being 77.3:22.3:0.4 in NAR and 65.6:34.4:0.0 in DIS.
In the face of the figures of the table it is rather hard to detect any definite trend in
the use of pat and at according to types of antecedents. Roughly speaking, pat seems to
have a tendency to accompany personal antecedents whether they are nouns or pronounrs.
With regard to noun antecedents at tends to be non-personal, and with pronoun antecedents
it is personal as well as non-personal.
5. 6. Noun Antecedents The following tabulation may be obtained when noun antecedents
are grouped into the patterns below:
a) NAR
TABLEXI

Relative Pronouns in An Alphabet of Tales, a Fifteenth Century Northern Text (Saito) 43

44 Relative Pronouns in An Alphabet of Tales, a Fifteenth Century Northern Text (Saito)
Notes: 1. "a+N" stands for "Indefinite article+ (adjective) +Noun."
2. "0+N" stands for "No article+(adjective) +noun."
3. Gen: genitive case of (pro)noun Superl: superlative Num: numeral
A study of the figures of these two tables will disclose very significant facts:
1) Pat is definitely preferred with antecedents with patterns a +N, 0-\-N and Num-\-
N. It is to be noted that the majority of cases with pat go with the first pattern a+N.
2) On the other hand, at is prevalent with the pattern pe+N, and also pis+ N.
With respect to the patterns indefinite pronoun+noun, it is very hard to see which
relative goes with what pattern. Numerically pat is more frequent with these types of
antecedents.
1. a+N: pat (NAR) rpS Senec tellis how a philosophur pat hight Archisibus had a
frendpat was both seke & pure. 37-20/ rnpS pis lepre man had a copp pat was
passand like his copp 40-3/ nrps how pat a monk some of Ceustus ordur, pat was
Celerer, was tempid with covatice 65-19/ nrnpS And emang paim was a chefe ape,
pat satt in a hye sete pat was ordand for hym 24-19. (DIS) rpS per was ayong
man pat lukid on my fayrehede 14-25/ rnpR for a syn pat I was neuer shreuyn of
229-21.
at (NAR) rpS per was a duke at had a wyfe pat liffed so delicatlie 170-24/ nrnpS
sho was putt in a mervaLous grete comfurth, at contynued with hur lang & recedid
noght away from hur 134-26/ rnpS she would go vnto a dike at was beside pe place
27-13. (DS) rnpS par I hard a voyce at sayd vnto me 92-29/ rnpO I hafe yit in my
mynde a little gude turn at pou did me with vsurie 43-5.
2. 0+N: pat (NAR) rpS he garte gadur to-gedur yong men pat wer able vnto chyvalrie
214-30/ rnpO for grete abstincns pat he vssyd 19-22/ nrpS he on a tyme come
vnto Philipp, pat was kyng of Romays 9-19. (DIS) rpS yone are devils pat begylis
119-23/ rnpS hase pou not sene turment pat is for to come 21-3/ nrpS thankis
God pat gaf me so fayr a form 237-13.
at (NAR) rpS he put in offisurs at war hard of strayte 252-15/ rnpS be power at
was gyffen vnto hym 82-24/ nrpS when Senec at was his maister askid hym 156-21.
(DIS) rnpO with sofowle synys at pou sayd at he had done 124-4/ nrpR I am
Saynt Nicholas at pou hase bene devote to 186-9.
3. pe+N: pat (NAR) rpS pe kynges pat come of pe nowtherd kynred hase reigned
vppon pe pepull & pe land of Brytany 254-27/ rnpS And with a gude harte sent
hym itt, pefyssck pathad coste hym xx d. 4-16/ nrpS he was war of pe devill
syttand vppon pe hy altar in a chare, pat said vnto hym 199-3. (DIS) rpS for pe
wommanpat was pine oste yisternyght was so werie and so yrke 14-3/ rnpS pe
prayers pat er prayed for pe er nott harde 106-10.
at (NAR) rpS it happend at pe men att aght pis gude folowid after pis thefe 52-2/
rnpS he drew at pe coverlad att lay on hym 230-9/ nrpR in pat was the goddis
of Egypte, of golde & of syluer, at pis Assenech did sacryfice vnto 62-7/ rpS (DIS)

Relative Pronouns in An Alphabet of Tales, a Fifteenth Century Northern Text (Saito) 45
Yonder is pe devull at cryes at the dure! 247-4/ rnpO Whar is now pe money att
pou gaderd samen to lift with in pine elde 64-20.
4. Gen+N:pat (NAR) rpS And onone per neghburpat did pis avowtr was vexid with
a fend 27-1/ rnpR heturnyd agayn vnto hisfals error pat he was in be for 24-36/
nrpO pan he mett with his thridfrend, pat he luffid bod litill 43-3. (DIS) nrpS att
pe son sulde sla his modir pat sufferd so grete payn for hym in hur[burth as sho
did, & broght hym yp with so grete labur 157-10/ at (NAR) rpR And his furste
frend at he come to & told pis matier ansswerd hym 43-19/ rnpS at pai mott hafe
per doggis at kepid per shepefald delyverd 130-9/ nrnpO I saw pi neghbur sew at
pou stale 187-16. (DIS) rnpO ioyes of his dignitie at he hase after hym 60-26/ rnpR
Whar is now pi gay aray at pou was so prowde of 237-4.
5. Superlative+N: pat (NAR) rnpO he tuke a gude hors, & pe beste clothis pat he
had 6-12/ rnpO What was pe grettest mervayle & fayrest ping pat evur God made
in leste rowme 50-9. at (DIS) rnpO it sail be pe best chafir at evur pou boght
108-20.
6. Num+N: pat (NAS) rpO per was ij brether pat dwelte samen many yeris 118-24/
rnpS he gaff hur for his rawson iiij castels pat er in pe bisshop ryk of Lunens
155-13. (DIS) rpS yit ij sulde nott be fon to gedur pat war lyke in visage in all
maner of thyng 50-13 (Antecedent=numeral)
7. pat+N: pat (NAR) rpR Hym selfe was pat shipman pat he gaff pat syluer dish
vnto 237-26/rnpS and make not sorow for pat ping pat is verely loste & can never
be requoverd 132-17 (DIS) rpS Bryng hedur pat lord of ours pat late seld hys pylgram
clothyng & drank it 198-15/rnpR vnto pat ioj pat I was in 178-6.
at (NAR) rnpO prayed pe abbott for to forgyff hym pat wrong at he had done
vnto hym 10-21/ rnpO to gett pat ping at he might not gett 132-16/ rnpS whatt
he bare in pat sekk at was so hevy 104-17 (DIS) rnpO pat clothyng at pou gaff pe
pure man, pou gaff it me 205-8/ rpS ff or pat womman at bad pe spyr me pies
questions is pe devull 50-26.
8. pase+N: pat (NAR) rpS for pase gude wommen patt gase on nyghtis 173-13/
rnpR pat all pase membris pat he had servid pe devull with suld be cutt off 34-29.
at (NAR) rpO did penans for pase fals goddis at sho had wurshuppid 63-31.
9. pis+N: pat (NAR) nrpS pis monk pat was deade apperid in a vision vnto his
abbott 16-5/ nrpS And pis abbatis, pat was grete with childe, made mekull sorow
ll-25/ nrnpS pis horse, pat was so gaylie cled, was wayke & lene 237-1. (DIS) nrnpS
Behold pis stane pat hyngis be for my face 31-22
at (NAR) nrpS he mott venge hym on pis monke at had servid hym so evull 245-
20/ nrnpS pis hemet mysside pis wulfe, at vsid to com daylie vnto hym, he made
his prayer vnto God 232-28.
10. thies+N: at (NAR) nrpO he putt oute pies offisurs at hispredecessurhad ordand
todo workis of mercy 252-12.

46 Relative Pronouns iri An Alphabet of Tales, a Fifteenth Century Northern Text (Saito)
ll. same+N: pat (DIS) of pe same offrand pat I made with myne awn handis 212-3.
at (NAR) rnpO in pe same clothyng at sho had on 143-4. (DIS) rnpO pouerteput
to pe same occupation at I vse 237-6.
12. such+N: pat (NAR) rnpS per entred into his harte suche a temptation pat, as
hym thoght, rownyd vnto hym 80-18.
13. no+N: pat (NAR) rpS per was no man pat kend nowderhis fadurnor his moder
196-8/ nrnpS pat he sail nott here noo gude prechyng, pat sulde cauce hym to forsake
his syn 67-8. (DIS) rnpS pat no suspecte rise betwix vs pat myght hurte pi
gude name and pi fame 49-29.
at (NAR) rpS scho would be giffen vnto no man at was inthraldom as Joseph was
62-25/ rpO he cuthe know no man at he saw 195-30.
14. any+N: pat (NAR) rpS nevur aftur presume to disese any creatur pat had
deuocion vnto our ladie 54-26.
15. some+N: pat (NAR) rnpS & trustid he had done som grete syn, pat causid his
gudis to fall away from him 8-27.
at (DIS) rnpO pis is som vision att God will shew vs 196-21.
16. all+N: pat (NAR) rnpS & all ping pat was made of leddur 220-13.
at (NAR) rnpO he besoght hym to forgiff hym all offensis at he had made vnto
hym 152-16.
17. many+N: at (NAR) rnpR per was a man pat had done many grete synys at he
was neuer shrevyn of 125-12.
18. (a)few+N: pat (NAR) rps he fandfew knightis pat was able vnto pe were 214-
29. (DIS) he cuthe fynd nothyng of me bod afew gude dedis pat I did in my
yowthed 21-23.
19. a noder+N: pat (NAR) rpS per was... a noder religious womman pat saw all
pis112-9.
20. oper+N: pat (NAR) rpS per was oper privay Cristen men pat wrote per martirdom
& put it betwix ij stonys 195-12.
21. (euer-) ilk+N: pat (NAR) rpS ilk man or womman pat come in att his yate,
pat was owder crukkyd-bakkid, skabbid, or pat had bod one ey, or war..., he sulde
hafe of paim a penny 164-1.
at (NAR) rnpO bod at euer-ilk wurd at he said, hed mynd of hur 250-28. (DIS)
rnpO pou sulde not trow euer-ilk wurd att pou hard 132-32.
22. yone+N: pat (NAR) rpS Yone yoog man pat is so prowde & full of syn, stynkis
morvglie inpe sight of God 51-21/ rpS Wold God at I mott se yone aide man
deade, pat is Emperour 68-4.
5. 7. Pronoun Antecedents Table XII shows the frequencies of pronouns used as relative
antecedents in the text examined.

Relative Pronouns in An Alphabet of Tales, a Fifteenth Century Northern Text (Saito) 47

48 Relative Pronouns in An Alphabet of Tales, a Fifteenth Century Northern Text (Saito)
The pronouns used here may be grouped into three kinds: personal, demonstrative and
indefinite. There are found some cases in which two kinds of pronouns are put together,
e. g. he pis.32
From the figures of the above table, the following significant facts emerge:
1) Generally speaking, personal pronoun antecedents prefer pat to at, showing the ratio
of pat 61 to at 28 inNAR and 31 to 10 in DIS. Indefinite pronouns also tend to ocurr
with pat, the ratio being 60:25 in NAR and 3:2 in DIS, while on theother hand demonstrative
pronouns have a reversed tendency, the figures being 3:10 in NAR and 0:14 in
DIS.
2) In the case of third person singular and plural forms, the frequencies are different;
he and pai prefer pat. With paint both pat and at are frequent.
3) With demostrative pat, at is definitely preferred. Compare with pat in a noun
antecedent. It is quite natural to avoid the combination pat pat from the standpoint of
euphony. Another demonstrative pis also seems to take at instead of pat.
a) Personalpronouns: pat (NAR) I nrpS how wrichid & vnhappie am /, pat hase
done so mekull as I hafe done 7-13/ thou nrpS Thou ert pat man, pat at fals suggestion
off pi wife slew my husband 155-5/ he rpS he pat saw pe vysion answerd
86-18/hym rpS desirid his brethir to make hym pat was his sybman Abbott 7-32/
his rpS at pis shepe sulde blete in his belie pat had etyn it 232-13/ sho nrpS And
when sho pat before was ferd for hur dead hard pis 117-34/ hur nrpS becauce pai
turment hur, pat was a wommanof so gude coversacion & penance 23-35/ it rpS it
was pe fend pat garte pe erth stir 170-6/ pai rpS & pai pat dwelte in paim was
destroyed 253-18/ paim rpS agayns paim pat wull here no thyng bod at is to per
plesur 25-3. (DIS) I nrpS /, pat am your lord, mon now dy 68-29/ my nrpS will
eatt of my bread pat am cursyd 215-18/ me nrpS What may shrifte profett me, pat
hase done so manygrete trispasis 57-20/ we rpS & we pat sulde be your brethir fare
neuer so ill5-10/ vs nrpS & take vs in, pat er cullid with grete ioj &myrth 241-13/
pou nrpS pou pat ert boun with syn 35-26/ pe nrpS God blis pe pat whikkens
all creatures 63-22/ ye nrpS for ye pat er no better pan myselfe, is bod evynlyngis
with me 29-17/ he rpS He pat is curste, go his ways! 216-7/ hym rpS vnto hym
patt did pis dede! 118-18/ paim rpS If we sla paim pat luffis vs, what sulde wedo
withpaim atthatis vs 44-4/ pai rpS pai pat er pi frendis sal be pineenmys 68-ll.
at (NAR) he rpS he att told itt, askid hym 154-ll/hym rpS ane of paim steppyd
be for hym at satt 159-15/ it rnpO he was redie to profe it at he had told hym 154-
12/ pai rpS pai att wer aboute hym askid hym 207-7/ paim rpS he garte kyllpaim
pat did no truspas, with paim at did pe trispas 35-14/ per rpS in grapyng of per
vaynys at war seke 74-22. (DIS) pou nrpS pou, at yit ete no ping, says now at pou
may nogt eate 254-4/ the nrpO sho saw neuer man bod me & the at sho saw pis
day 63-13/ sho rpO her is sho at pou hase accusid 222-4/ it nrnpO and pis is it at
I am cled in 205-8/ paim rnpS killid paim at satt vppon his wownd 72-26.

Relative Pronouns in An Alphabet of Tales, a Fifteenth Century Northern Text (Saito) 49
b) Demonstrative pronouns: pat (NAR) pat rnpO how pat was taken frohur pat God
had giffen sho told hym 113-19/ po rpS po Pat callid hym lord, he was passand
wrothe with paim 25-12.
at (NAR) pis nrnpS pou ert innocentofpis at is put on the 25-27/ pat rnpR sho
was innocent of pat at sho was accusid of 12-19/ (DIS) pis nrpO pis is not my
Lord at ye hafe broght 212-26/ that rnpS That at was myne, God hase takenit fro
me 168-23/ he pis nrpS sen he pis at did bod make a lye hase had suche a grete
reward 24-27/ nrpS pat he this at lies here had neuer will in all his life to here pe
wurd of Godd 67-20/ nrpO he pis att pou vpbraydid right now win so fowle synnys
124-3.
c) Indefinite pronouns: pat (NAR) none rpS per was none pat was more religious
pan he was 183-1/ one rpS Valerius tellis of one pat was a passand famos poett 87-7/
som rpSyit som pat was onhis syde fell in tone vnto hym 88-2/ all rnpO pai
knew at all pat he said was trew 234-5/ any thyngr rnpO if per war any tkyng
pat hymselfe wold grawnt to doo for penance 240-22/ a noder rpS per was sent a
noder pat was les of connyng of literatur 217-ll/ pe toder rpS And pe toder pat
satt aboute gaff it 215-21/ other rpS as he did other of his brether pat dyed 15-8/
all oper rpS and all oper pat hard ever after was ferd to stele 232-15. (DIS) one
rpS outtakyn one pat is bod a fule 224-2/ all rpS all pat erinthe cetie of Athenys
130-17/ other rnpS pat other pat er hongry suld com & pryk 73-2.
at (NAR) none rpS per was none att callid hym 138-24/ noght rnpO wuld com no
ner for noght at no man cuthe do 54-ll/ one rpS one at was per said vnto this
man at was bun 124-1/ all rpS he told all att was abowte hym how it had happend
hym 234-3/ nothyng rnpO for nothyng att he cuthe say 114-10/ none oper rpS
so did none oper att was per 125-5/ ilkone rpS vpbrayd ilkone at come in 123-17.
(DIS) nothyng rnpS nor desire nothyng att is gude nor profetable vnto my selfe
177-22.
5. 8. The results of the investigation so far carried may be said to give evidence that
there is some differentiation in function between pat and at in this Northern text.
The results will be summarized as follows:
1) There may be some difference in linguistic level between the two forms. At may
be more colloquial and informal.
2) As a relative without an antecedent, at is the norm.
3) The main job of pat is in personal/ subject function. Contrary to it at is in nonpersonal/object
function.
4) With noun antecedents, pat is preferred when they take the patterns a+N, 0+N
and Num+N, while at is preferred with the patterns pe+N, and pis+N.
5) When pronoun antecedents are personal pronouns, and indefinite pronouns, pat is
frequent. On the other hand with demonstrative pronouns at is prevalent. Especially
pat at is the norm, pat pat avoided.

50 Relative Pronouns in An Alphabet of Tales, a Fifteenth Century Northern Text (Saito)
Notes
1. See Middle English Dictionary, Plan and Bibliography, 1954, p. 12.
2. Cf. I. A. Gordon, The Movement of English Prose (Longmans, 1966), p. 62 : "...racily told
colloquial stories.... the language and sentence-structure of the short story are completely native."
3. Only one example is found in the text. (NAR) This is gude to tell agayn flaterers, &
agayns paim pat wull here no thyng bod at is to per plesur. 25-5. This may or may not be
relatival. Baldwin offers some examples of relative but in The Inflections and Syntax of the
Morte D'Arthur of Sir Thomas Malory (Boston, 1894), § 361, but OED (but 12) and Visser,
An Historical Syntax of the English Language, Vol. I (Leiden, 1963), § 20 give no examples
previous to 1500. See also A. C. Partridge, Studies in the Syntax of Ben Jonson's Plays
(Cambridge, 1953), p. 64.
4. These numbers show the page and line where the example appears.
5. Cf. Curme, Syntax, p. 204f ; Yamakawa, "Renketsushi Hattatsu no Nikeiretsu," Studies in
English Literature, XXVI. ii ; Jespersen, MEG, III, 4. 31.
6. Cf. Brunner, Die Englische Sprache, II, p, 152 ; Mustanoja, Middle English Syntax, Pt. I,
p.191.
7. EETS, ES 33 (1879). Moralities are excluded from my examination.
8. For details see my article "Relative Constructions in The Book of Margery Kempe", Bulletin
of Nara University of Education, Vol. 18, No. 1 (1969).
9. Studien zur Syntax des Nomens, Pronomens und der Negation in den Paston Letters, Bochum-Langendreer,
1959, p. 249ff. WAo-compounds are not included in the countings.
10. The following statistics of other works byWinkler, Das Relativum bei Caxton und seine
Entwicklung von Chaucer bis Spenser (Diss. Berlin, 1933) will be a help for our further
understanding of the situation of the relatives
that which + (the which)=
Chaucer, 1000VV. 80.5^ ; ll.2& =17.5#
Cant- T- (+6.3^ which that)
M , (Kap. 1-6 83.4

Relative Pronouns in An Alphabet of Tales, a Fifteenth Century Northern Text (Saito) 51
14. See Mustanoja's remark, (.op. cit., pp. 204-5) : "They (sc. contact-clauses) make their appearance
in the second half of the 14th century... It occurs more frequently in poetry than in
prose." See also Visser, op. cit., § 629 ; Ryden, Relative Constructions in Early Sixteenth
Century English (Uppsala, 1966), p. 267ff. notes. According to Ryden's notes, 0 as subject
does not occur in Pecock, are rare in Capgrave, and extremely rare in Caxton. In Malory
and the Paston Letters it is mostly used in connection with there is/are. 0 as object is rare
in Pecock, Fortescue, Caxton, and the CelyPapers. It is more common in Capgrave, as it is
in Malory and the Paston Letters.
15. NAR DIS
GR 6 2
MK 21 10
16. See Reuter, "Some Notes on the Origin of the Relative Combination the which" Neuphilologische
Mitteilungen 38 (1938), pp. 146-188.
17. Op. cit., p. 199.
18. Die Entwicklung der englischen Relativpronomina in spatmittel-englischer und friihneuenglischer
Zeit (Diss. Breslau, 1932), p. 72 : "Ein kurzer Ueberblick zeigt, dass in der volkstiimlichen
Sprache des 15. Jahrhunderts die Verbindung the which sehr haufig ist."
19. See the following data:
MK
NAR
DIS
GR
In MK restrictive which is already established in both categories, while pe which is more
non-restrictive. In GR pe which is predominantly non-restrictive.
20. See the figures below:
GR
{ which
pe which
(which
[pe
which
p
157
29
69
2
NAR
np
72
32
32
6
p
24
7
1
DIS
np
19
7
24
7

52 Relative Pronouns in An Alphabet of Tales, a Fifteenth Century Northern Text (Saito)
21. See §2. 1. of this paper.
22. Op. cit.t p. 252.
23. Op. cit.y p. 3. See also Mustanoja, op. cit., p. 199.
24. A Syntax of the English Language of St. Thomas More, Pt. 1 (Louvain, 1946), §197.
He adds in the section that according to Einenkel this formula is an imitation of Old French
"come qui die Modern French comme qui dirait.
25. Op. cit., p.201.
26. See the following figures :
27. Op. cit., p. 195.
28. Op. cit., p. 67. See also Ryden, o£. c;7,, p. 338: "Clear instances of relative what are
comparatively rare in Elyot's writings."
29. "The Relative Pronuns pe and pat in Early ME," English and Germanic Studies I, (1947-
8), PP. 73-87. For the outline of this paper see Mustanoja, op. cit., p. 189.
30. This is quite natural because in ACTOR-ACTION-GOAL relation the actor would most
frequently be a person, the goal being a thing. The same result as this is observed in MK.
See §4.0 of my paper referred to in Note 8.
31. With respect to relatives in front-position see Ryden, op. cit. p. 323ff.
32. For this combination he pis see Visser, op. cit. (1963), §74:also' Mustanoja, op. cit.,
P.137.