Bucky
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Wed Sep-09-09 06:52 PM
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I didn't realize it until yesterday, but in Shakespeare's time, mine was used for "my"... |
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in the same way that "an" was used for "a"--to give a vowel sound between a noun and its article. For instance, "mine eyes have seen the coming" isn't poetic license; it's archaic. I never knew this rule before; I'd just thought Shakespeare & his contemporaries were randomly interchanging "my" and "mine" as the mood fit them.
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Aristus
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Wed Sep-09-09 07:01 PM
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1. That's how, in Shakespeare, "mine uncle" becomes "Nuncle". And "Mine Ed" becomes "Ned." |
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The Anglo-Saxons seemed to settle in the middle of the French "mon" (sounds like mahwnh) and the Saxon-derived German "mein."
And Shakespeare brought Norman English into the Modern age. B-)
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KG
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Wed Sep-09-09 07:36 PM
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2. a good read about the evolution on the english language: |
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Wed Apr 24th 2024, 07:01 PM
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