Suppletion for suppletion, or the replacement of eode by went in English (1).

1. Suppletion in Germanic

Like other Indo-European languages, also Germanic occasionally employed forms deriving from historically different roots in its inflectional paradigms. In the case where "it is not possible to show a relationship between MORPHEMES through a general rule, because the forms involved have different roots", we deal with suppletion (Crystal 1980). In Germanic, the phenomenon is most evident in adjectival comparison as well as in pronominal and verbal inflection. As regards verbs in Indo-European and Germanic, suppletion dominates in the paradigms of verbs having the sense 'be'. For example, the Indo-European roots *es- *s- : *bhu--/bheu- : *wes- and the Germanic root *ar- survive as the contemporary English forms is : be : was: are, etc. Less consistently, suppletion is found in other verbs, especially those with the sense 'have' and 'go'.

The verb of motion go exhibits suppletion in practically all Indo-European languages, except Persian, Kurdish, and Armenian. Although Latin failed to have developed suppletive forms of go, its descendants, i.e. contemporary Romance languages, demonstrate a wide range of such forms; cf. It. vado '(I) go' : andare 'to go', Sp. voy '(I) go' : iba '(I) went' : ir 'to go', and Fr. vais '(I) go' : irai '(I) went' : aller 'to go', etc.

Although the suppletive forms of go in Germanic (cf. Go. gaggan, OE gan/gangan 'to go': Go. iddja, OE eode 'went') are continuations of the Indo-European roots *gheugh and *ei respectively, the relevant preterite in Old English is hypothesised to be a direct reflection of the Germanic preterite *eo (sg.). The root *eo which developed to *eu was subsequently contracted to form the diphthong *eu, which ultimately yielded the sequence *eo. The attachment of the weak suffix *-d- to the root of the lst/3rd singular indicative (but not to the forms of the optative; cf. Fourquet 1941-1942) may have been effected after the contraction eu > eu, when a more substantial form representing the preterite was in demand (cf. Cowgill 1960; also Prokosch 1939: 224). If this was the case, the extension of the weak verbal ending was determined by purely functional factors.

The present paper is an attempt at showing how, although successful in disposing of the original suppletive form, English failed to eliminate suppletion as a systemic feature in the forms of the verb go. Another aim is to present the circumstances of the spread in dialects of another suppletive form, went(e), which replaced eode, -on in the standard speech despite the occasional use in Middle English dialects of the quasi-regular forms gaed/goed.

2. The verb go in Old and Middle English

In Old English, the preterite of gan showed only little variation, its principal form eode being paralleled by dade in Mercian (Ru (1), i.e. Rushworth Gospels) and in Northumbrian, where the form 3eead (PP; cf. Campbell 1959 : 348) was also used. In Middle English, the preterite eode survived as either yode, which exhibits stress shift from the first to the second element of the diphthong, or as 3e-(o)de, yede, etc., the latter form with either insertion of initial]- or preservation of the transformed old perfective prefix 3e (> y-; cf. Brunner 1962: 283). It was in that period that the new suppletive form wente began to replace the descendants of eode in a process which was conditioned geographically.

The existing accounts of the change scattered in sections on morphology in historical grammars are, to say the least, very modest. A typical example of how the process is accounted for is Lass (1992: 142-143):

(1) ...developments of eode remained through the fifteenth century as yede/yode. In the north, however, a new suppletive past developed quite early: wente, originally the past of wendan 'tum'. This spread south in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, gradually replacing yede/yode. Chaucer has wente as his normal form, though yede still occurs occasionally, always in rhyme positions (e.g. Troilus 5.843 rhyming with Diomede). But yede occurs well into the next century along with went(e).

A similar statement in Fisiak (1968: 97-98) attributes the introduction of went(e) to the impact of Northern and partly Midland dialects so that "At the end of ME went existed side by side with yede, yade". A simple presentation of the distribution of go-preterites in his grammar emphasises the conservative character of the Southern forms; cf.:

(2) South eode 3ede 3ode
        Midlands 3ede 3ode / wente
        North went (also gaid; 15c)

Some interesting details are found in Brunner (1963: 86) who adds several 12th century forms, such as early Southern eode, ode, ede, geode (from geeode), Eastern 3ede, and the later variants 3ede, 3ode, 3edd, 3odd in the South and the Midlands. Their total replacement by the new preterite went in the South belongs, claims Brunner, to the 15th century. But in his Englische Sprache, published a year earlier, Brunner (1962: 283) states that yode and yede were preserved until the 16th century, the e-form even later. And truly, the evidence adduced in Price's (1910: 182) study of English verbs between Caxton and the end of the Elizabethan period as a list of yed-forms from the 16th century in Berners, Machyn, Sackville or Spenser confirms unambiguously their survival not only in that period but also in the 17th century, when yed- occurred in poetical language. According to Gill's Logonomia anglica published in 1619, the forms yede or yode were then still used in Lincolnshire (cf. Price 1910: 182).

In fact, the scale of variation in the non-present forms of go, as cited in the OED, is striking. The classification below groups these verbs according to the root vowel and the presence or absence in the preterite of the semivowel [j] in word-initial position (unless indicated otherwise, all forms are singular):

(3) a. j-less e(o)  [eode.sup.1-3] (Nhb. eade)
                     [eode/n.sup.2-4] (pl.)
                     [ede.sup.3-5]
    b. j-full e     3[eode.sup.2-4] 3[ede.sup.2-5]
                    3[edd.sup.4] [yedd.sup.4-5] yed/e
                     [yede.sup.6] (arch.) (N., Sc.
                    3[eid.sup.2-5]/e [yeid.sup.4-5]/e
                    3[eid.sup.4-6])
    c. j-full i(e)  [ieden.sup.2] (pl.) 3[ied.sup.3](e)
                     [giede.sup.4] 3ide
    d. j-less o     [oden.sup.2] (pl.)
    e. j-full o     3[odd.sup.3-5], 3ode/e
                     [yoede.sup.3-4] 3[ood.sup.4]
                     [yodd.sup.4-5] [yod.sup.4-6]/e
                     [yod.sup.6-7, 9]/e (arch./dial.)
    f. j-less u     [ude.sup.5]
    g. j-full (o)u  3[ud.sup.4-6]/e [youd.sup.5] yude
    h. h-full i(e)  [hiede.sup.3] [hiden.sup.3] (pl.)
                     [yhed.sup.4] [hedon.sup.5] (pl.)
    i. h-full o/u   [yhode.sup.3] / [yhude.sup.5] (pl.)

Very little variation is found in the forms of the new preterite which reflects the original past tense form of OE wendan 'turn'. Because from the very beginning the semantic field of that verb included the sense of 'go', the occasional past tense form wende is frequently difficult to interpret as it may retain either the original sense 'turned' or the new sense 'went'. For instance, the principal meaning 'turn' is evident in (4a) but a new sense ('went away' for 'turn away') may be postulated in (4b), both citations coming from the Ormulum (c. 1200):

(4) a. Ded. 11 Icc hafe wennd [PP] inntill Ennglissh Goddspelless hall3he lare ...

2102 pe33 wenndenn patt 3ho waere wif ...

b. 12528 pe deofell wennde awe33 ... anan Forrshamedd off himm sellfenn ...

Equally interesting are those fragments of the 13-15th century texts, where the variant forms of the past tense of wende (i.e. wynt, whent) may indicate the new sense:

(5) c. 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 87 Ihc wile turnen agen to mine huse pe ich er ut of wende.

1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. v. 14 pis soup-Westerne wynt on a Seterday at euen.

1482 Cely Papers (Camden) 106 Thay sayd howr mother schulld go on preschesyon on Corpys Kyrste day ... and a my sowyll howr mother whent at that day.

1482 Monk of Evesham (Arb.) 75 Al that... whent not dedyr.

Only the modification of the old preterite form wende 'turn' to went(e), usually having the present-day sense, and the formation of the regular past tense form wended, meaning 'turned', facilitated a correct semantic interpretation of the past tense forms. In due time the verb wende(n) developed the metaphoric meaning 'die, be lost' and entered into semantic correlation with the verb go, which also included that sense, thus contributing to the permanent association of go and went (cf. Weman 1933).

Efforts to introduce into the standard speech non-suppletive forms with the dental suffix attached to the infinitive to mark the preterite proved futile since the linguistically crucial Southern and Midland speakers failed to make use of such combinations. However, a tendency to regularise the preterite by creating the past tense forms based on the infinitive ga/go may be assumed to have materialised in the North of England and in Scottish English, where forms like geid, gade, gaed, gede, geed, as well as gaid, were developed; cf.:

(6) c. 1400 Destr. Troy 369; South Lancashire, NWM He ... Gaid vp by a grese all of gray marbill

1500-20 Dunbar Poems xxx. 25 ... Gife evir thow wald my saule gaid vnto Hevin.

1535 Lyndesay Satyre 4354 Scho riftit, routit, and maid sic stends, Scho 3eild, and gaid at baith the ends.

1583 Leg. Bp. St. Androis 459 The vther gaid hame...

1596 Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. ix. 173 [He] led her with him quhair euer he gaid. 185 Of this the nobilitie geid til a counsell.

Although such forms continued into Modem English, some of them even surviving in 19th century poetical language, their distribution and popularity in the standard speech had always been extremely low and practically they never functioned as successful competitors of the suppletive forms. The reason for that may have been processes of grammaticalisation which, throughout Middle English, affected not only the verb go but also other high frequency verbs like be, do or have.

3. The distribution of the preterites yede and wente in Middle English

Because the quasi-regular forms in -ed, like those in (6), are both geographically and functionally peripheral our attention will be focussed on the rivalry of the two standard types, eode/yede and wente. It should be emphasised that both types coexisted in English not only in the same geographical regions but also, as abundantly shown in the available literature of the period, in particular writers. The examination of the QED data from various medieval texts reveals a three-way pattern of distribution exhibited by the relevant preterite forms of go. In consequence, Early and Late Middle English texts contain:

(a) the old form (eode, yede, yode, etc.) exclusively,

(b) both the old form and the new form (wende, wente, went), and

(c) the new form went exclusively.

The y-less form eode (p1. eodon), with dialectal variants, is frequently used throughout Old English, being found, for instance, in the Vespasian Psalter, the Rushworth Gospels, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, King Alfred's works, Beowulf and the poetry of Cynewulf. However, examples of wente, the preterite of wendan 'wend', with the sense close to that of the past tense of go, can be found in some Late Old English texts of c. 1000; cf.:

(7) Ags. Treat. Astron. in Wright Treat. Science 16 He went adune...

Sax. Leechd. III. 270 Se firmamentum went on oam twam steorran...

Ags. Gosp. Luke xvii. 31 And se oe bio on aecere ne went he on-baec.

Luke xxiv. 33 And hi3 arison ... & wendon [c. 1160 Hatton wenten] to hierusalem.

The rivalry of the two dominant types, with the most typical representatives yede and went, continued throughout Middle English, exhibiting a characteristic distribution of the relevant forms against the background of temporal and geographical space. The section below is a presentation of the competing forms of yede/went, etc. in texts arranged chronologically and geographically, employing the following sequence of dialects: Kentish, South-Western, West Midland, Northern, and East Midland. The statistical data enclosed in square brackets include the approximate total number of citations of the relevant text in the OED and the numbers of the forms of either the old preterite yede or the new preterite went.

4. Kentish

Confined to the non-Saxon Southeastern area, the Kentish dialect exhibits from the earliest very specific phonological features but offers rather limited morphological evidence as regards the preterite of go. But the text of the Kentish Sermons (c. 1250) [132] contains an interesting combination of coexisting contrastive preterites; cf.:

(8) c. 1250 Old Kent. Serm. in O.E. Misc. 26 ... swo kam si sterre pet yede to-for hem. //

27 po kinges hem wenten and hi segen po sterre

where the context shows that wenten (line 27) has the sense 'turned' rather than 'went'. No evidence of the new preterite can be found in William of Shoreham (c. 1315) [752 citations], which contains only a single instance of the old form, cf.:

(9) c. 1315 Shoreham v. 110 In pyssere ioye we scholde by-louken Al hyre ioyen of uourti woken pe wylest he 3ede wyp chylde.

But a work a few decades older, Dan Michel's Ayenbite of Inwyt [2544], contains, besides yede [5], the statistically prevailing form wente [24], which undoubtedly stands in semantic correlation with go; cf.:

(10) 1340 Ayenb. 166 We redep of zaynte Agase, pet ... hi yede to tor ment alsuo ase hi yede to feste.

233 pe wyse maydines ... yeden in mid pe bredgome to pe ale.

240 he yede in-to desert. uor pe desert of religion ... //

12 Ha [Christ] wente into helle... uor to dra3e pannes pe zaules of pe holi uaderes.

17 To huam alle triacle went in to venym.

Summing up, the data from Kentish, modest as they are, show the spread of the new preterite in the latter half of the 14th century.

5. South Western

The Southwestern area (a former West Saxon territory) comprises Berkshire, Buckingham, Devon, Dorset, Gloucester, Hampshire, Oxford, Somerset, Surrey, Sussex, Wiltshire (cf. Jordan-Crook 1974: 4). The texts produced there prevailingly contain the eode-type, as does Layamon B (c. 1275, Somersetshire) [4827], cf.:

(11) c. 1275 Lay. 2324 pe men to gaderes eode an [h]eolde conseil grete ... [4]

2582 Suppe him com a time pat he to wode wende. [5]

Although wend can be alternatively interpreted as 'turned', its direct connection with go cannot be excluded. The absence of went-forms testifies to the morphologically conservative character of text.

Another manuscript, a late 13th century collection of versified stories of the saints and the New Testament, the South Eastern Legendary (c. 1290; Gloucestershire) contains three types of go-preterites, with the "intermediate" form wende prevailing; cf.:

(12) c. 1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 455/215 oe bischop eode into oe vestiarie ... [8] 263/76 With-oute lettingue In heo 3eode. 15/472 Ri3t oane wei oat ore louerd 3eode toward is passioun.

268 ... With-oute wetingue oare-outer heo 3eode. [3] //

473/400 To his schyp he wende: and so forz [read foro] in oe se. [63 wende, 0 went]

The same tendency to use wende is confirmed in another document from roughly the same area, the writings of Robert of Gloucester [3239], where isolated instances of the old forms (cf. (13)) are matched by the new forms, with the intermediate new preterite wende predominating:

(13) a. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 1217 After mete as ri3t was oe menestraus eode aboute. 3173 Vor oe poyson in is step oe veines so ooru so3te oat it of eode [v.r. ouerwent] al oat body and to oe him sone bro3te. [2]

b. 1766 Ac basian & al is folc 3ede anon to gronde. [1]

c. (1724) 144 Aftur fyftene dawes ... To London he wende. 129 To oe baylys of oe toun hastiliche heo wende. [? 120]

d. 24 Kyng Locryne's herte was al clene vp hire y went ... [1]

The evidence of The Life and Martyrdom of Thomas Beket [637] confirms the above Southwestern tendency since wende is the only preterite form of go found there, cf.:

(14) c. 1300 Beket 1129 He wende fram Gra[nt]ham; fyve and tuenti myle also To the cite of Lincolne. 2417 And wende to the holi lond: here synnes forto bete. 1129 He wende fram Gra[nt]ham; fyve and tuenti myle also To the cite of Lincolne. [14]

The most frequently quoted author from Oxfordshire is Wyclif [11970], a religious reformer whose works are dated to the last quarter of the 14th century. His texts show a distinct prevalence of went [96] over yede [25]; cf.:

(15) a. c. 1382 Wyclif Gen. xix. 1 He 3ede to mete with hem. 1388 ix. 23 Sem and Jafeth 3eden bacward. 1408 xix. 6 (MS. Fairfax 2) Loth 3ede out to hem on the bachalf. [24]

1382 Wyclif 2 Kings v. 25 Thi seruaunt 3eede not o whydre [1388 to ony place]. [1]

b. Ezek. xxxvii. 27 Bones wenten to boones, eche to his ioynture. [96]

An analogous tendency is evident in the texts of Wyclif's contemporary, John de Trevisa [6750], which demonstrate only 7 old against 33 new forms of the preterite, practically all [32] found in his translation of Bartholomaeus de Proprietatibus Rerum; cf.:

(16) 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) IV. 397 A lampe ... in oat hevene ... oat 3ede [MS.... 3eode] adoun westward as it were oe sonne. V. 189 In the Ester eve whanne oe sonne 3ede to glade. [4] V. 423 oe kyng meked hym, and 3eede [MS. ... 3ude] barfoot. [3] //

Rolls Ser. VII. 427 In the whiche cytees Robert wente burethely up and doun [11.

1398 Barth. De P.R. xv. cxviii. (MS. Add. 27. 944), pider Nemroth pe geaunt went ... and tau3t pe perses ... [32]

Curiously, the 15th century Pecock [1431] (Oxfordshire) offers only 1 instance of the preterite, which happens to be 3ede:

(17) c. 1449 Pecock Repr. 225 The Lord sie that Moyses 3ede to se. [1]

Summing up, Southwestern shows preference for wende in the 13th century, but favours went a century later, although the surviving old preterites are occasionally preserved in the later period.

6. West Midland

To historical West Midland belong Lancashire, Cheshire, Derby, Stafford, Shropshire, Herefordshire, and a typically transitional county, Worcestershire. Because of the abundance of manuscripts from West Midland the distribution of forms in various texts will of necessity be presented in a concise form. The titles (or authors) of texts, arranged chronologically, are preceded by the year as well as localisation and followed by the number of citations in the OED and the number of particular old and new forms:

(18)                                                   eode       yede

c. 1160 Worc (sWM)    Hatton Gospel            [163]      1        -
c. 1175 Staf (sWM)    Lamb. Hom.               [933]      8        -
c. 1205 Woro (sWM)    Layamon A                [4827]    24        3
c. 1300 Shrop (wWM)   King Alisaunder          [1408]     1        -
c. 1325 Heref (sWM)   Chronicle of England     [76]       1(ede)   -
c. 1340 Lanc. (nWM)   Sir Gaw. & Gr Knight     [1295]     -        1
c. 1360       (?nWM)  Early Eng. All. Poetry   [2688]     -        3
c. 1362 Staff. (sWM)  Langland                 [5865]     3        3
a. 1450 Lanc. (nWM)   The Alliter. Alexander   [2037]     -        3
a. 1450 Ches. (wWM)   Chester Plays            [422]      -        1
c. 1400 Lanc. (nWM)   Destruction of Troy      [3530]     -        -
c. 1420 Lanc. (nWM)   Sir Amadace              [161]      -        -
c. 1425 Shrop. (wWM)  Audelay                  [200]      -        -
c. 1435 Lanc. (nWM)   Sir Torrent of Portugal  [227]      -        1
c. 1440 Warw. (eWM)   Gesta Romanorum          [813]      -        8
c. 1450 Shrop (wWM)   Myrc Festial             [296]      -        1

(18)                  yode  wende  went(e)

c. 1160 Worc (sWM)     -      -       -
c. 1175 Staf (sWM)     -      -       1
c. 1205 Woro (sWM)     -    25(?)     -
c. 1300 Shrop (wWM)    -      -      10
c. 1325 Heref (sWM)    -      -       -
c. 1340 Lanc. (nWM)    -      4       8
c. 1360       (?nWM)   -      -       5
c. 1362 Staff. (sWM)   -      -      39
a. 1450 Lanc. (nWM)    -      -       2
a. 1450 Ches. (wWM)    1      -       -
c. 1400 Lanc. (nWM)    4      -      21
c. 1420 Lanc. (nWM)    -      -       2
c. 1425 Shrop. (wWM)   -      -       4
c. 1435 Lanc. (nWM)    -      -       3
c. 1440 Warw. (eWM)    -      -       8
c. 1450 Shrop (wWM)    -      -       2

The above summary shows the loss of y-less old preterite and an evident rise of the new forms after 1300. The prevalence of went is particularly evident in King Alesaunder (1300, Shropshire), Sir Gawain (c. 1340, S. Lancashire), Langland (c. 1362, Staffordshire), and the Destruction of Troy (c. 1400, S. Lancashire). Surprisingly, 15th century texts, except those from South Lancashire, reveal a relative balance between old and new forms, which seems to indicate a rather conservative character of West Midland morphology. Only Lancashire, even its Southern part, shows a visible tendency towards accepting the new preterite wente. As regards forms in Layamon A, they evidently reflect a transition from the old to the new preterite, although the latter is represented by the ambiguous form wende, registered more than 25 times with the potential sense 'went', against the total of 24 eode and 3 yede forms.

7. North

The Northern dialects comprise Northumberland, Cumberland, Durham, Westmoreland, and Yorkshire. There is a general consensus that the North contributed most to the shape of the contemporary grammar of English and that all major Northern morphological innovations were spreading southwards.

Although relatively few in number, Northern manuscripts are considered very important. However, the earliest valuable literature in the North is dated to around 1300, the first significant document relevant to the area being the Cursor Mundi (c. 1340), represented by several manuscripts: Cotton Vesp. (Southern Scotland), Royal College (Northern) and Fairfax (North Lancashire), of which the best is the one from Scotland. Illustrated by an unusually high number of quotations in the QED [12751], the poem shows the following distribution of the preterite forms of go:

(19) c. 1340 683 (Trin.) pese beestis were so meke in dole Wipouten hurtyng pei 3eoden hole.

c. 1300 CM 6970 Whenne pat pei to bataile 3ede. 10556 Anna busked hir and yede. 1086 Quen caym had don pat dreri dide, Til his fader hamward he 3eide. 21093 He prechid pare wip fote he 3ide. [20]

a. 1300 Cursor M. 12954 Bot herdili he [pe warlau] yode him nerr, Qua herd euer best sua bald [57]

c. 1340 Cursor M. 12305 (Trin.) Joseph went also soone Wip him marie pat burde bolde. [118]

It follows from the above that the Cursor Mundi contains three types of the preterite, with a marked preference for went(e). It is characteristic that the Trinity MS, of 1340, i.e. a later one, still includes the form 3eoden, with a rather unexpected survival of the digraph <eo> in a northerly text.

Similarly paired preterites are also found in another 14 century writer, Richard Rolle of Hampole [3395], who employs both 3ode and went, each with only a single representation in the text; cf.:

(20) c. 1340 Hampole Prose Treat. 5, I 3ode by sufferynge of werynes and I fand Ihesu wery ... [1]

25 ... he lefte Pe conuersacion ... and went into disserte vpon the hilles. [1]

A similar proportion between the old and the new form is found in Barbour's Bruce [2669], a poem written in Aberdeen, Scotland in 1387, whose manuscripts come from the late 1 15th century; cf.:

(21) 1375 Barbour Bruce iii. 302 His causs 3eid fra ill to wer. iv. 411 Othir syndry 3eid thame v. 580

A *chalmir page thar vith him 3eid. vii. 203 Till hym thai 3eid a full great pass. [13]

x. 245 Thai that war went furth ... x. 222 (Edinb. MS.); Than Bonnok Went on hys way [24].

Here, the typical Scottish form containing the digraph <ei> rivals with the standard form went which is prevalent. But the digraph is absent in the basic form in the Legends:

(22) c. 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints 1. (Katerine) 74 Scho 3ed and sad ... sir king ... [5] xxx. (Theodera) 186 Scho went on to pref hir arte. [9]

The last texts to be referred to are the cycles of plays, produced in Yorkshire, York Mysteries (c. 1440-) [986] and Towneley Mysteries (c. 1460) [1309] which contain only several preterites of go. What should be particularly noted is the use of went as the past participle form; cf.:

(23) c. 1440 York Myst. ix. 151 My frendis pat I fra yoode Are ouere flowen with floode. [1]

xxiv. 64 Woman! wher are po wighte men went That kenely here accused pe?

xli. 347 My age is went, I feyll no fray. [9]

c1460 Towneley Myst. xiii, 183, I wold, or we yode, oone gaf vs a song. [1]

iv. 12 Wheder ar all oure elders went? xxx. 388 This wykyd warld away is wente. [4]

In spite of scant statistical data, a more frequent use of went than yode is evident. But the form yode could still be found in Scotland in Early New English and later, i.e. in the period which is not of immediate interest to us.

8. East Midland, including London

The East Midland area, the cradle of Standard English, includes the historical; shires of Nottingham, Lincoln, Leicester, Rutland, Northampton, Huntington, Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridge, Hertford, Bedford, Middlesex, Esssex and London. The area had been for a long time under a strong influence of the adjacent dialects. Because of the richness of the data, the relevant statistical as well as geographical features (including the part of East Midland) are shown as a table; see below:

(24)                                                  eode  yede  yode

C. 1200 Linc. (nEM)    Orm [2952]                      -     18    -
c. 1200 Hunt. (cEM)    Trinity Coll. Homilies [2199]   -      3    -
c. 1250 Norfolk (eEM)  Genesis and Exodus [2109]              -    5
c. 1260 Essex (sEM)    King Horn [431]                 3      4    -
c. 1300 Linc. (nEM)    Havelok [855]                   -      4    -
c. 1314 Suff. (eEM)    Guy Warw. [649]                 -      5    -
c. 1325 London (sEM)   Coer de Lyon [589]              -      -    -
c. 1330 Linc. (nEM)    R. Manning of Brunne [2508]     -     12    2
a. 1400 London (sEM)   Chaucer [11902]                 -      5    -
c. 1400 London (sEM)   Gower [4066]                    -      3    -
c. 1400 Norf. (eEM)    Mandeville [2547]               -      -    1
c. 1424- Norf. (eEM)   Paston Letters [1550]           -      4    -
C. 1430 Suff. (eEM)    Lydgate [5289]                  -      -    1
c. 1440 London (sEM)   Morte Arth. [1313]              -      1    -
1440 Norf. (eEM)       Prompt. Parvulorum [5634]       -      1    -
c. 1440 Norf. (eEM)    Sir Eglam [71]                  -      -    -
c. 1450 London (sEM)   Knight de la Tour [713]         -      4    3
c. 1475 London (sEM)   Malory [1653]                   -      4    -
1483 London (sEM)      Cely 'Papers [191]              -      1    -
1491 London (sEM)      Caxton [10324]                  -      1    -

(24)                   Wende  went(e)

C. 1200 Linc. (nEM)      -       -
c. 1200 Hunt. (cEM)      -       -
c. 1250 Norfolk (eEM)    1       - 38
c. 1260 Essex (sEM)      -       3
c. 1300 Linc. (nEM)      -       2
c. 1314 Suff. (eEM)      -       9
c. 1325 London (sEM)     -      11
c. 1330 Linc. (nEM)      -      40
a. 1400 London (sEM)     -      75
c. 1400 London (eEM)     -      21
c. 1400 Norf. (eEM)      1      11
c. 1424- Norf. (eEM)     -      11
C. 1430 Suff. (eEM)      -      33
c. 1440 London (sEM)     -      12
1440 Norf. (eEM)         -       -
c. 1440 Norf. (eEM)      -       5
c. 1450 London (sEM)     -       4
c. 1475 London (sEM)     -      23
1483 London (sEM)        -       -
1491 London (sEM)        -     151

The above table shows that the loss of the old forms went through several stages, such as (1) elimination of y-less forms (mid- 13th century) and (2) a simultaneous development of yede and yode, the latter especially productive in East Anglia. The y-forms are still well represented in the 15th century, although they are found in relatively small quantities, being more numerous only in Robert Manning of Brunne (Lincolnshire), where the new preterite wente is employed much more frequently. A drastic drop of y-forms observed after 1330 coincided in time with the growing popularity of went. Unlike other dialects, the form wende does not seem to have functioned as the preterite of gan, since our data register only one example where it potentially denotes the preterite of go (c. 1400); cf.:

(25) Mandeville (Roxb.) v. 15 oai wende gladly to Cipre to fraght oer schippes with salt ...

9. General conclusions

Although based on selected Middle English texts, the above review of the forms of the verb go may be considered as indicative of the following trends in the rise and establishment of the preterite went:

(1) The new preterite need not be a northern form, since it is found in Late West-Saxon and Early Southern Middle English from where it could spread to other dialects, including that of Midland.

(2) The new form went is a development of wende, a form very common in Southern and Midland areas. Phonologically, this change resembles the devoicing [d > t] in other similar words, like in the preterites lent, sent, spent, etc. (cf. Dietz 1981).

(3) The gradual diffusion of wente over the Southern and Midland territories resulted in a long-time coexistence of the two or even three types of the preterite in the same texts from those areas. The eventual replacement of eode by went was due to functional reasons: the simple pattern of wente, practically without variation, replaced the wide variety of the descendants of OE eode, represented by over 30 forms.

(4) A typically Northern form, yode, etc., with <o>, did not manage to gain higher frequency and failed to survive long.

Appendix 1

Selected pairs of the old and new preterites coexisting in the same text: (y)ed yod, etc. vs went(e), etc.

Appendix 1

Selected pairs of the old and new preterites coexisting in the same
text: (y)ed yod, etc. vs went(e), etc.


971 Blickl. Hom.    165 To hwon eodan ze to westenne ... witzan
                    to secenne.
                    195 Forpon ure yldran swultan & swipe oft us
                    from wendan.
c. 1175 Lamb. Hom.  41 Mihhal eode biforen and Poul com efter.
                    213 Iblesced beo pet pus went lure to bizeate.
c. 1205 Layamon     25756 Arour eode abute ... & his cnihtes bi his
                    siden.
                    19763 And ut wenden [c. 1275 hout eode] bi-nihte
a. 1225 Ancr. R.    52 pus eode sihoe biuoren ... & com pe dead per
                    efter.
                    74 pe veond of helle mid his ferd went purh pe
                    tutel.
c. 1250 Gen. & Ex.  2288 Sone he zede ut and stille he gret.
                    2030 she yod himm bitterlike a-gen.
                    1751 He toc and wente and folwede on ...
a. 1300 Cursor M.   3353 (Cott.) He yode Par walkand be pe strete.
                    4567 (Cott.) Pas oper seuen yede i to see.
                    1284 (Gott.) Seth went ... To paradis pat ilke day
a. 1300 K. Horn     118 (Harl.) pe children ede to pe stronde ...
                    326 (Camb.) Went [= go] vt of my bur Wip muchel
                    mesauentur.
c. 1300 Havelok     1685 Vn-to pe heye curt he yede.
                    2450 Hise nese went un-to pe crice ...

c. 1300 K. Ails.    3410 Ten myle they yeode alang.
                    6104 Of hurdles of bruggen they made flores, And
                    so they wente into the mores.

c. 1314 Guy
Warw. (A.)          4828 Op and doun he 3ede hir secheinde.
                    35 Forth he went into Speyne And after into Almeyne.

c. 1325 E.E.
Allit. P. C.        355 pat on Iournay ful Ioynt Ionas hym 3ede ...
          B.        858 He went forthe at pe wyket ...

1340 Ayenb.         233 pe wyse maydines ... yeden in mid Pe bredgome
                    to Pe bredale.
                    17 To huam alle triacle went in to venym.

c. 1340 Hampole
Prose Treat.        5, I ... 3ode by sufferynge of werynes and I fand
                    Ihesu wery ...
                    25 ... and went into disserte vpon the hilles.

1362 Langl. P.
P1. A. Prol.        41 Beggers faste a-boute eoden [1377 3ede].

1393 Langl. P.
P1. C. ix.          279 Diues for hus delicat lyf to pe deuel wente.

1375 Barbour
Bruce iii.          302 His causs 3eid fra ill to wer. x.
                    245 Thai that war went furth beforn.

1387 Trevisa
Higden (Rolls)      V. 423 Pa kyng meked hym and 3eede barfoot.
                    VII. ... Perafter he wente into Narmandie.

1390 Cower Conf.    I. 188 And to the bed with that he yede ...
                    I. 71 She ... At night vnto the temple wente.

c. 1400 Destr.
Tray                284 Many noble for pe nonest to pe note yode...
                    4521 pus went pay to water.

a. 1400-50
Alexander           409 pis diuinour 3ede ... herbis to seche
                    1828 Pen lete pe lord Pam allane & went till
                    his fast

c. 1420 Chron.
Vilod. st.          598 As saffe as hole as he upoun urthe 3ede.
                    390 pen went pey pederward as pis tresere lay.

c. 1440 Gesta Rom.  176 (Harl. MS.) He yede forthe to bataile, and
                    had pe victorye ...
                    285 He went and bete him, and lefte hym halfe
                    on lyve.

c. 1440 Morte       (1819) 34 To the bote they yede with oute
Arth.               stynte, They two allone.
                    (Roxb.) 34 A clothe ... Sir Gawayne lyfte vp and
                    wente in bayne

1450 Knt.
de la Tour          (1868) 10 On a derke night, as she yede towardes
                    her lemman to foly.
                    (1868) 81 He yode ... and made comenaunt with a
                    surgeon ...
                    (1868) 120 She went vnto the kinge and ... made
                    pees betwene the kinge and her husbonde.

1491 Caxton
Vitas Patr.         ii. 186 b/l He ... yede his waye to enhabyte him
(W. de W. 1495)     selfe in the deserte ...
                    i. xxxvii. 50 a/l, pewe people wente for to
                    see him ...

Appendix 2

A selection of chronologically late (y)ed etc. preterites

1423 Acts Privy Council III. 97 He yeed in ambassiate to ... ye Kyng of Polayn.

1424 in Picton L'pool Munic. Rec. (1883) I. 23 The Sheriffs ... yadden up to the West Derby fen.

c. 1435 Torr. Portugal 1193 His squiers habite he had, Whan he to the deyse yad.

c. 1460 J. Russell Bk. Nurture 35 Where euer y ede day by day.

c. 1470 Gal. & Gaw. 228 The day yeid doun.

1487 Cely Papers (Camden) 158, I had xxli more wheyr of 3eyde xijli and mor for carryayge of wholl.

1508 Dunbar Kynd Kittok 33 Becaus the wif 3eid wrang.

1513 Douglas Aeneis ii. xii. 21 Throw howsis and the citie quhar I 3oid.

1524 in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. i. I 244 Saing if he yode awaye she must neds do for her self

c. 1533 Ld. Berners Huon clxiii. 636 He issued out of the gate and yode towardes the tentes of his enemyes.

c. 1563 Sackville Induct. Mirr. Mag. xxx, Yeding forth, anone An horrible lothly lake we might discerne.

1566 Drant Horace, Sat. v. C vij, When you ... yeade to Louaine there to heare the Latine Romishe worde.

1575 Gammer Gurton iv. ii, My Gammer then she yeede, see now hir neele again to bring.

a. 1578 Drant (Webster) Years yead away and faces fair deflower.

1579 Spenser Sheph. Cal. Sept. 145 They wander at wil, and stray at pleasure, And to theyr foldes yead at their owne leasure.

1583 Leg. Bp. St. Androis 327 With this the word yead through the toun.

1590 Spenser F.Q. i.xi. 5 Then bad the knight his Lady yede aloofe.

x. 53 ... Till that his army dry ... foot through them yod.

a. 1600 Montgomerie Devot. Poems iii. 29 That leddir ... Quhairby the angels come and 3eid From hevin to earth.

1600 Fairfax Tasso xx. xcii, An armed stead fast by the Soldan yood.

1602 Carew Cornwall 116 Downeuet ... of downe yeeding, as hauing a steep hill.

1614 Gorges Lucan v. 174 Yet she, poore soule, was sore adread Into the horrid cell to yed.

1615 R. Brathwait Strappado (1878) 130 A lang youd I.

1633 Fisher Fuimus Troes iii. ix, Vnneath thilke borrells May well ne yede, ne stand.

a. 1650 Glasgerion 46 He did not kisse that Lady gay when he came nor when he youd.

c. 1748 Thomson Cast. Indol. ii. xxxv, And much they moraliz'd as thus yfere they yode.

1768 Downman Land of Muses xii, Early the morn we will forth yede yfere.

1768 Ross Helenore i. 7 They Yeed hand in hand together.

1808 Jamieson, Yede is still used in Ang[us] although almost obsolete.

1808 Scott Marm. iii. Xxxi, In other pace than forth he yode, Returned Lord Marmion.

1823 Galt Entail I. ii. 11 Frae the time o' the sore news ... her life gied out like the snuff o' a can'le.

(1.) I am grateful to the Kosciuszko Foundation, An American Center for Polish Culture, Promoting Educational and Cultural Exchanges and Relations Between the United States and Poland since 1925, for their travel grant which I used to participate in the 36th International Congress on Medieval Studies, 3-6 May 2001, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Mi., where this paper was originally presented.

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