Affiliation:
1. University at Buffalo, The State University of New York
Abstract
This paper presents a detailed comparison of certain verb forms in Sir Firumbras, a text produced in a relatively remote part of southwestern England around 1380, with those found in texts produced in the London area around the same time. The forms in question reflect a collapse in some dialects of earlier present-tense distinctions between strong verbs and the largest class of weak verbs. This collapse is commonly assumed to have affected southern English in general but the evidence presented here suggests that it may initially have been characteristic only of urban regions with an influx of migrants from other parts of the country.
Publisher
John Benjamins Publishing Company
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