ABSTRACT
Here and there we find & tendency to establish a grammatical distinction between thing-words (countables) and mass-words (uncountables) apart from the difference dealt with in the chapter on Number (XIV, p. 198 f.). In the south-western dialects of England "full shapen things" are referred to as he, acc. en (from OE. kine) and take the pronominal adjuncts theiise, thik, while" unshapen quantities" are referred to as it and take this, that: Come under theiise tree by this water I goo under thik tree, an zit on that grass (Barnes, Dorset Gr. 20, Ellis EEP. 5. 85, Wright, Dial. Gr. § 393, 416 fr.). In other languages there is a tendency to use the neuter gender preferably with mass-words, thus G. das gift, das kies 'poison, gravel' has taken or is taking the place of the older die gift, der kies. In the same way we have now in Danish siflJVet for older stoven 'dust.' But in Danish this is carried further. Neuter forms of adjuncts are used to indicate quantity with masswords even where these in other respects are of the common gender. Thus we say mrelken, osten' the milk, the cheese,' but alt det mrelk, noget andet ost ' all that milk, some other cheese' (as mass,-' another cheese' as thing-word is en anden ost); jeg lean ikke nojes med det te 'I cannot rest content with that (much) tea,' but ... med den tea if the kind or quality is meant. Many dialects in Jutland go still further, all mass-words being made neuter without regard to the original gender, and in Hanherred a complementary change has taken place, all thing-names having been made of the common gender: iset, jordet, skiben, husen 'the ice, earth, ship, house,' where Standard Danish has isen, Jorden, slcibet, huset.
