The More the Merrier: Grammar of the Instrumental Case

The More the Merrier: Grammar of the Instrumental Case

A
Alliterative
7 Video Views·Jun 4, 2025  #grammar #oldenglish #historicallinguistics

Explaining the grammar behind the construction "The more, the merrier" and the instrumental case, a remnant of the Old English case system.

The first video in our new "Knotty Topics in Historical Linguistics" series. Let us know what you think!

#grammar #oldenglish #historicallinguistics #instrumentalcase

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Sources:
The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) – http://www.oed.com/
Online Etymology Dictionary (Etymonline) – http://www.etymonline.com/
Bruce Mitchell & Fred C. Robinson, A Guide to Old English, 6th edition (Blackwell, 2001)
Malcolm Andrew & Ronald Waldron, eds., The Poems of the Pearl Manuscript (U of Exeter P, 1996)

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