Charting the course of Viking pronouns: An analysis of the dissemination of Scandinavian THEY, THEM, and THEIR in Middle English

Elise Morse-Gagné

Fri. 11-12:40 B

The replacement of Middle English third person plural pronouns by Scandinavian forms (modern THEY, THEM, THEIR) introduced by Viking settlers has sparked frequent speculation but little careful study. As a result many questions about it remain unanswered. In this paper I briefly summarize my research into the diachronic and geographical spread of the Scandinavian forms, and show how this information suggests answers to some previously intractable problems.

Two existing surveys permit an overview of the spread of the Scandinavian pronouns. These are Greul (1935), detailing all pronouns found in 80 early Middle English sources, and the Linguistic Atlas of Late Mediæeval English, which includes information on pronoun forms in samples from some 1,200 later sources. Using these I develop maps of Scandinavian pronoun distribution in successive periods, and I use these, along with VARBRUL analyses, to illustrate developments from the 11th to 15th centuries. This takes us from the first appearance of Scandinavian forms in written English until they predominate in most areas.

I discuss the implications of my results for a range of issues. One is the question of how the adoption of the Scandinavian forms proceeded in Scotland, for which we have no direct evidence until very late. Examination of the data for England, combined with information on later Scots developments, shows that the Scandinavian pronouns were adopted faster, more completely, and in somewhat different grammatical contexts in Scotland than in northern England. Turning southwards, we find another puzzle presented by occasional very early, relatively southern forms such as thai(e), e.g. in Layamon. Does this indicate a separate Scandinavian influx, is it an early instance of forms from the northern settlements traveling southwards, or is it a coincidental development internal to English? Preliminary evidence suggests a combination of the latter two possibilities. Finally, documenting the level of Scandinavian pronouns found in different regions at different times gives us a concrete measure of patterns of Scandinavian influence on written English, which can then be used as a guide in analyzing possible contact effects on Middle English syntax.

These results demonstrate that with principled data collection and careful analysis, it is possible to chart language change and assess its implications even for historical periods. Fully utilizing what records we have permits us to replace speculation with well-founded hypotheses susceptible of further testing and verification.

References

Greul, Walter. 1934. "Das Personalpronomen der 3. Person Pluralis im Frümittelenglischen." In: Gericke, Bernhard, and Walter Greul. Das Personalpronomen der 3. Person in spätags. und frühmittelenglischen Texten: ein Beitrag zur altenglischen Dialektgeographie. Palaestra (Untersuchungen und Texte aus der deutschen und englischen Philologie) 193. Leipzig: Mayer & Mueller.

McIntosh, Angus, M. L. Samuels, Michael Benskin, et al. 1986. A Linguistic Atlas of Late Mediæval English. Aberdeen University Press.