m>
to bear; put up with; suffer
A man with a good crop can thole some thistles (Scots Proverb)
Still used in northern and Scottish dialects of British English eg Yorkshire. /Td>
unto
to, onto, upon
And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? (Genesis 3:9)
Mainly used in Early Modern English. /Td>
wert
from be
imperfect second-person singular form of the verb be
If thou wert pure and upright; surely now he would awake for thee, and make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous. (Job 8:6)
used in Biblical, Shakespearian and poetical language. /Td>
whitesmith
from blacksmith, an iron worker
a tinsmith
Used in 1860s
whither
contraction of where hither
to where (Destination)
whence camest thou? and whither wilt thou go? (Genesis 16:8)
Compare to wohin in German. used in Biblical, Shakespearian and poetical language. /Td>
whitlow
unknown
a sore or swelling in a finger or thumb
Used in 1860s, still used in British English
wilt
from will
used to form the future tense of verbs
whence camest thou? and whither wilt thou go? (Genesis 16:8)
used in Biblical, Shakespearian and poetical language. /Td>
wittles
from "Victuals"
food
You bring me, to-morrow morning early, that file and them wittles. (Great Expectations, Charles Dickens)
Used in 1860s, vittles still used in British and American English
zounds
corrupted form of "Christ's wounds"
expletive
still used occasionally in British English
2 Analysis of ancient texts
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W. Shakespeare, Sonnet 2.
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When forty winters shall besiege thy brow , And dig deep trenches in thy beauty's field, Thy youth's proud livery , so gaz'd on now, Will be a tatter'd weed, of small worth held. Then being ask'd where all thy beauty lies, Where all the treasure of thy lusty days To say, within thine own deep-sunken eyes, Were an all-eating shame, and thriftless praise How much more praise deserv'd thy beauty's use, If thou couldst answer 'This fair child of mine Shall sum my count, and make my old excuse, 'Proving his beauty by succession thine!
Thy - your
Brow - forehead, expression (EME, poetic)
Livery - gown; dress; costume; finery (EME, poetic)
So gaz'd on now - here - that I see on you now
Tatter'd - tattered
Of small worth held - of the worst type
Lusty - healthy, strong, vigorous
Thine - your
Thou - you
Couldst - could
When forty winters will besiege your face, and dig deep trenches in your beauty's field, your youth's proud gown, that I see on you now, will become a tattered weed, of the worst type. Then being asked where all your beauty lies, where all the treasure of your vigorous days to say, within your own deep-sunken eyes, were an all-eating shame, and thriftless praise How much more praise deserved your beauty's use, If you could answer 'This fair child of mine will sum my count, and make my old excuse, 'Proving his beauty by your succession!
An unaware person is unlikely to understand some words in this sonnet. May be someone will assume that this sonnet has an awkward conglomeration of archaic forms. But taking into consideration that it is written by Shakespeare, all the doubts concerning its readability and perceptibility are gone. Here we can easily trace an existence of archaic forms of personal pronouns. The verb form couldst, faintly reminding German word because of its ending-st, attracts reader's attention as well. We can also see words that changed their meanings nowadays. E. g. the word brow means a part of the face - arched line of hair above one's eye, but not the whole face. Word order also differs from Modern English rules of subj...
