How to parse. ...

222

DIFFICULTIES.

[Par. 379-381.

379 " To " was early used (in the sense of neighborhood) for "toward" or "about" of past time, as
well as of future, e.g. "to-eve " (yesterday evening).
This explains the modern -
(4) " I saw him to-day."
"As to." See Pars. 487-489.
380 " But." See Alphabetical Index. When used
as a Preposition, "but" should be followed by the
Objective form; but, probably owing to confusion
between the Prepositional and the Conjunctive
usage, "but," even when a Preposition, is often
followed by the Subjective form: -
"And was not this the Earl? 'Twas none but he."Philip Van Artevelde.
381 In explaining the many idiomatic usages of " but," two
things should be borne in mind; (1) that the radical meaning of " but" is " leaving out," and that it was a Preposition;
(2) that a negative is often omitted, for shortness, before it.
The trahsition from the Preposition to the Conjunction
is well illustrated by the following modernized examples
from Layamon: -
(1) "Buten laeve," i.e. " without leave." -( Preposition.)
(2) "He saw that the Britons must fall buten heo red hbaveden," i.e. "'without, or, unless they had counsel (rede)."Subordinate Conraniction.
(3) " If you lo this, well; bute (i.e. otherwise), he will never
deliver Evelin to thee." - to-ordinate Conjunction.
The omission of the negative was facilitated by the
blending of the negative ne with the Verb, so that nam meant
"am not."