Re: 16th century verbs

In article <1142068524.794796.51820@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
ellen <sordal@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hello
I wonder about the use of 'be' in phrases such as :'Lies be scant' ;
'truth be told', 'death be proud', highly frequent in Shakespeare's
writing. I have looked in Crystal but to no avail. Could it be regional
or simply influence from Latin?
Anyone know anything about word order in Shakespeare's writing?

Isn't this the regular English present subjunctive?

It may be rare now, but it is still used.



--
This address is for information only. I do not claim that these views
are those of the Statistics Department or of Purdue University.
Herman Rubin, Department of Statistics, Purdue University
hrubin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Phone: (765)494-6054 FAX: (765)494-0558
.

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