; whilst Northern
only admitted five such plurals, viz. _egh-en_, _ey-en_, eyes
(Shakespeare's _eyne_), _hos-en_, stockings, _ox-en_, _shoo-n_, shoes,
and _f{-a}-n_, foes; _ox-en_ being the sole survivor, since _shoon_
(as in _Hamlet_, IV iv 26) is archaic. The modern _child-r-en_,
_breth-r-en_, are really double plurals; Northern employed the more
original forms _childer_ and _brether_, both of which, and especially
the former, are still in dialectal use. _Evrelest-inde_ exhibits the
Southern _-inde_ for present participles.
But the word _zennes_, sins, exhibits a peculiarity that is almost
solely Kentish, and seldom found elsewhere, viz. the use of _e_ for
_i_. The explanation of this rests on an elementary lesson in Old
English phonology, which it will do the reader no harm to acquire.
The modern symbol _i_ (when denoting the _short_ sound, as in _pit_)
really does double duty. It sometimes represents the A.S. short _i_,
as in _it_ (A.S. _hit_), _sit_ (A.S. _sittan_), _bitten_ (A.S.
_b{)i}ten_), etc.; and sometimes the A.S. short _y_, as in _pyt_,
a pit. The sound of the A.
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