Affixes

2. Affixes are morphemes added to a word to change or restrict meaning:

• Prefixes are added to the beginning of a word.
• Suffixes are added to the end of a word.

3. Prefixes may by monophonic or polyphonic:

• Monophonic prefixes are always pronounced the same way, e.g. con-, en-, ob-.
• Polyphonic prefixes are pronounced in different ways, e.g. re-: repórt, rèpresènt, récreæt.

4. Suffixes may be reliable or unreliable:

• Reliable suffixes indicate stress reliably, e.g. -abel, -cion, -ity.
• Unreliable suffixes are unreliable stress indicators, e.g. -ent: indécent, innocent.

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Nordic

Greek

Latin

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A knight of the Bloo Bouk in ceremonial armory, mid 14^th century. In 1349, Edward III re-established the knighthood as an institution devoted not only to martial valour, but also to the preservation of the English language and learning.

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Nordic

non-Nordic

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Derivation

5. In word formation, there are two kinds of stress derivation:

• Static derivation occurs when the stress remains in the same place: cult > cultur, cultivæt
• Metabolic derivation occurs when the stress changes position: àgricultur > agricultural.

Static Derivation

Metabolic Derivation

6. Static derivation may require accents to be added or omitted if the number of syllables changes. There are two relevant transitions:

• oxytone to paroxytone: carèss, carèst > carèssing, carèsses
• proparoxytone to anteproparoxytone: fassinæt, fassinæts > fàssinæted, fàssinæting

ox. to pox.

p.pox to ap.pox

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Lady Matilda, the Mother of Bloo Bouk, surrounded by monks and scholars, delivers the newly resurfaced original of the Bloo Bouk with Aldhelm’s handwriting to Sherborne Abbey, 1242. The Bloo Bouk is hidden after the Normal conquest, but subsequently disappears. Matilda plays a decisive role in the effort to find the original manuscript.

Composition

7. In word formation, compound words are words made from two or more stems. Compounds may be closed, hyphenated or open:

• Closed compounds are joined in one word: shortwæv, foutboal, ræncœt
• Hyphenated compounds are seperated by hyphen: must-hav, hunter-gadderer
• Open compounds are seperated by a space: shok wæv, skuel bus, hy skuel

8. There is no normative consensus on the use of the above linkings.

9. Compound words may be etimologically unmmixed or mixed:

• Unmixed compounds have stems from the same etymological family:
  foutboal, kemothèrapy, àgricultur
• Mixed compounds have stems from different etymological families:
  television, eco-feer, agro-freek

10. Unless established by old usage, mixed compounds should not be written as closed compounds.

11. The stems of non-closed mixed compounds are spelt as separate words with their own keys.

non-closed mixed

12. The stems of closed mixed compounds are spelt in the Greek key. If they have no Greek stem, they are spelt in the Nordic key.

closed mixed

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Inflections

13. Inflection is a change in or addition to the form of a word. Words that admit of inflections are called variable. Variable words may be (i) paranomina, (ii) nomina and (iii) verba:

• Paranomina are: articles, pronouns, numerals.
• Nomina are: adjectives and nouns.
• Verba are verbs.

14. Paranomina may be determiners or substitutes:

• Determiners appear before nomina: the gerls, thœs gerls, three gerls.
• Substitutes replace nomina: thæ ar heer, it is thears.

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Articles

Demonstratives I

Demonstratives II

Interrogatives & Relatives

Indefinite Determiners

Indefinite Substitutes I

Indefinite Substitutes II

Personals

Numerals

Numerals II

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Henry VIII dismisses a Bloo Bouk delegation of monks and scholars pleading for spelling standardisation, as agreed under Henry VI. He later dissolves Sherborne Abbey and the Knighthood of the Bloo Bouk, and orders the destruction of the Bloo Bouk.

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15. Nomina may be adjectives or nouns. Adjectives have degree inflections.

• Degrees are: positive, comparative, superlative.

16. Degrees are synthetic or analytic.

• Synthetic degrees are shown through inflection: cleen, cleener, cleenest.
• Analytic degrees are shown through added words: butiful, mor butiful, mœst butiful.

Synthentic Degrees

Analytic Degrees

Inferiority

17. Nouns have number and case inflections.

• Numbers are: singular, plural.
• Cases are: general, genitive.

Parisyllables

Imparisyllables

-n Inflections

Ablaut Inflections

French Endings

Proper Nouns

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A scribe at Sherborne Abbey produces a copy of the Bloo Bouk for official chancery use, ca. 1450. Henry VI encouraged government to adopt Bloo Bouk spelling.

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18. Verbs have inflections called conjugations. English conjugations have basic forms. A basic form is an irreductible word. According to their basic forms, English verbs may be:

• Monoverbs with only one basic form: must.
• Biverbs with two basic forms: can, coud.
• Triverbs with three basic forms: set, sets, seting.
• Tetraverbs with four basic forms: need, needs, needed, needing.
• Pentaverbs with five basic forms: giv, givs, gæv, giving, given.
• To be with the following forms: be, am, ar, is, wos, wer, being, been.

19. The basic forms, which are not distinct in every verb, are:

• First form as the infinitive.
• Second form as the third person singular.
• Third form as the past tense.
• Fourth form as the present participle.
• Fifth form as the past participle.

The second form also admits of:

• a formal third person singular in -[e]th: hath, seteth, needeth, giveth.
• a rare second person singular in [e]st: hast, setest, needest, givest, art.

In like manner, the third form admits of:

• a rare second person singular in [e]st: hadst, setst, neededst [didst need], gævst, wert/wost.

To Be

Pentaverbs

Triverbs

Biverbs

Monoverbs

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Scenes of the Apocalypse. Aldhelm seizes the yellow book of chaos from the hands of the devil and destroys it, thereby breaking the power of Devilspel. The devil himself is burned into nothingness. A 14^th century illustration.

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20. Most English verbs are tetraverbs with the same forms III and V. Tetraverbs may be regular or irregular.

Irregular

21. Like all other verbs, tetraverbs are divided into three kinds of stems:

• Open stems end in a vowel: pay, sæ, flœ, droa.
• Rhotic stems end in a vowel with r: bar, feer, compair.
• Closed stems end in a consonant: werk, teech, bring.

22. The standard suffixes of regular tetraverbs are -(e)d and -t for forms III and V.

23. Spelling adjustments may be needed depending on the stem type and number of syllables.

24. The forms of open stems follow different rules for the Nordic and non-Nordic key.

Nordic jane

French jane

Nordic pete

French pete

Nordic mike

French mike

unstressed -y

Nordic rose

French rose

Nordic luke/hugh

French luke/hugh

Nordic howie

French howie

French joy

25. The forms of rhotic stems may follow different rules for the Nordic and non-Nordic key.

common mark

Nordic claire

French claire

common bert

Nordic keir

French keir

common george

French noor

26. The forms of closed stems make no distinction between keys.

wise stems

weak stems

dental stems

strong stems

sibilant stems

jess stems

then stems

zen stems

sen stems

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The Archangel Gabriel appears to Aldhelm in a dream and commands the creation of the Bloo Bouk, to teach the world ‟an orderly manner of writing Anglo-Saxon words” against the snares of Devilspel.

Particles

27. Particles are words not subject to inflection: interjections, prepositions, conjunctions, adverbs.

Interjections

Prepositions

Conjunctions

27. Adverbs may be subject to degree:

• erly, erlier, erliest
• kwikly, kwiklier, kwikliest
• wel, beter, best

28. Adverbs may be formed through suffixal derivation:

• -wyz: clokwyz, eggwyz, lykwyz, udderwyz
• -ly: kyndly, grætly, witingly, sadly, gladly

Adverbs

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Contractions

29. A contraction is a fusion of two words into one. The main contraction types in English are:

• pronoun with verb
• verb with adverb
• verb with preposition
• antecedent with verb

A widespread notion regards the use of contractions as informal. However, contractions are recurrent in Ancient Greek in all manners of speech. Contractions were abundant in Middle English writing. In modern English, Shakespeare makes use of contractions in formal, solemn and stately speech. The idea that contractions are casual or careless style is untenable.

30. For ease of handling, a standardisation of contractions eliminates the apostrophe, going back to the Middle English practice.

Pronoun with Verb

Verb with Adverb

Verb with Preposition

Antecedent with Verb

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Geoffrey Chaucer recites a passage from the Canterbury Tales to a group of knights of the Bloo Bouk in a tavern, London 1383. The Knighthood was an early patron of Chaucer, who took active part in the influential 1387 spelling conclave.