brother – Middle English noun declension

Middle English noun forms of brother

Noun: brother
Sg.brother
Pl.bretheren; brether; brotheren

Genitive

Sg.brother; brotheres
Pl.brotheren; brether; bretheren

Dative

Sample Sentences

  • Nu broþerr Ƿallꞇ͛. broþerͬ min. Affꞇ͛ þe flæsheſſ kĩde⹎ ⁊ broþerͬ mın ı crıſſtenndom. Þurrh fulluhht⹎ ⁊ þurrh troꟕþe⹎ ⁊ broþerr mın ı ꟑodeſſ huſ […] (Now, Brother Walter, my brother by blood relation and in Christendom, through baptism and faith, and my brother in God's house […]) [c. 1180, Orͬm, “[Dedication]”, in Orͬmulum (Bodleian MS. Junius 1), Bourne Abbey, Lincolnshire, folio 3, recto; republished at Oxford: Digital Bodleian, 10 January 2019:]
  • I ioon ȝoure bꝛoþer ⁊ partener in tribulacioun ⁊ kingdom ⁊ pacience in criſt iheſu .· was in an ile þat is clepid pathmos · foꝛ þe woꝛd of god · ⁊ foꝛ þe witneſſyng of iheſu (I, John, your brother and partner in tribulation, the Kingdom, and endurance in Jesus Christ, was on an island that's called Patmos for the word of God and for the witnessing of Jesus.) [c. 1395, John Wycliffe, John Purvey [et al.], transl., Bible (Wycliffite Bible (later version), MS Lich 10.), published c. 1410, Apocalips 1:9, folio 117, verso, column 2; republished as Wycliffe's translation of the New Testament, Lichfield: Bill Endres, 2010:]

Nouns inflected like brother

brother,

Etymology

1. Inherited from Old English brōþor, from Proto-West Germanic *brōþer, from Proto-Germanic *brōþēr, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰréh₂tēr. Doublet of frere. Forms with /d/ both represent a phonological development and analogy with fader (“father”), moder (“mother”).
2. Development of the plural
3. Plural forms with /eː/ are from late Old English brēþre, with generalization of the mutated vowel from the Old English dative singular brēþer by analogy with other nouns with mutation in both the dative singular and nominative/accusative plural such as fōt, tōþ (fot and toth), perhaps reinforced by the Old Norse plural brǿðr. By the end of the Early Middle English period, the final -e of this form was either lost (brether), in conformance with both the consonantal pattern of the singular and a tendency for /(ə)lə/, /(ə)nə/, /(ə)rə/ to develop into /əl/, /ən/, /ər/, or replaced with -en (bretheren) as part of the spread of (nominative/accusative) plurals in -en at the expense of less salient -e. The same processes explain the supplanting of early Middle English broþre, broðre (Old English brōþra, brōþru) with brother and brotheren, though brother may also continue the Old English null plural brōþor. Finally, the forms brotheres and bretheres plainly represent adaptation to the regular plural in -es. See: Old English Nouns 'brōþor', Old English Nouns 'brōþor'.

Translations