The Bruce 38Book 11 · The present tense indicative is, I spek, thou spekis, he
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Fiction · Historical Fiction
The Bruce 38
Book 11 · The present tense indicative is, I spek, thou spekis, he
BarbourEnglish
spekis, we spek_, etc. But when the personal pronoun is separated from the verb, or when the subject is a noun or relative pronoun or other form, the ending is in is or ys throughout. Cf. _yhow that takis_ (XVI. 592); yhe that this redis (VI. 269); _all men fleis the did_ (IX. 90), etc.
4. The imperative plural is in is (ys): departis us (VI. 543). It is more rare without the ending (XI 309; XII. 227, etc). This, however, is the rule when the imperative is followed by its pronoun: luk yhe (XII. 217).
5. The present participle ends in and. Doubling of the consonant may occur after a short vowel--e.g., wonnand (X. 160).
6. The verbal noun (so-called) ends in yng or ing. In many examples the g is dropped, as the tendency was and is in Scots, and we have a form in yn(e). Cf. fechting (XII. 119) and fechtyn (III. 241). And these may rhyme, which shows that in sound the difference was not apparent (cf. IX. 120). Sometimes the particular form depends on the MS.--e.g., VI. 520, C supposing: E supposyn. The same thing is found in proper names with a similar termination.
