How to parse. ...

300 ENGLISH1 LANGUAGE. [Par. 554-556.

The following changes are some of those mentioned as occurring
554 in this period by Dr. Morris (Historical Outlines, p. 52), to which the
reader is referred for fuller information on this subject:1. Dative him used for Accusative.
2 The n in min, thin, dropped before Consonants, but retained in
the Plural and Oblique Cases.
3. The Infinitive (even in the South) often drops final -n. To is
sometimes used before ordinary as well as before Gerundial Infinitives.
4. The Gerundial or Dative Infinitive often ends in -en or -e (the
ordinary Infinitive ending) instead of -enne (-anne).
5. The Present Participle (Southern) ends in -inde (instead of
-ende), and is frequently used for the Gerundial Infinitive, e.g. " to
swilinlde" used for "to swimene." The Participle Passive often
drops -n.
6. Nominative Plural Inflections in a or it, and Dative Plurals in
-urn, were supplanted by -e or -en. Genders began to be confused.
7. Shall and will began to be used as Future Auxiliaries.
555 A specimen of the tendency to drop Inflections
is given in the two following extracts from the
earlier and later texts of Layamon,-the earlier
written about A.D. 1200, the later about A.D.
1250:1. Early... " Up heo duden heora castles gaten."
2. Later... "Up hii dude hire castles geate."
3. Modern... "Up they did their castle's gates."
Note also the approximation to modern usage in
the dropping of the o in " heo," "heora." A similar
approximation may be noted in the following Example (in which observe " alse," the later form of
"al-swa "): -
1. Early... "And ferden ut swa stille swa heo stelen wolden."
2. Later... "And werde ut so stille alse he (?hi) stele wolde."
3. Modern... "And they marched out as still as (if) they would steal."
556 Third, or "Analytical Period," A.D. 1250 -1350.-As the First Period was called Synthetical,