When did do and don't appear in the english language ?

[Chance1234]

I was listening to a discussion on the language used in english around the time of the Kings James bible. One of the presenters mentioned that the words Do and Don't wernt around then, but didnt much else in relation to these two words.

I was wondering if anyone could throw some light onto the subject ?

Chance,

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[ESquared]

I see 1,261 uses of the word do in the King James Version (Authorized), although don't appears to be missing.

m-w.com says do is Middle English don from Old English dOn. Isn't that hold enough for KJ?


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[sleipnir214]

That's the first I've ever heard of that.

According to the searchable online version of the King James Bible at the University of Virginia (

http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/kjv.browse.html),

the word "do" appears in many places. One example is Psalms 9:13:I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.

Now, one thing is that there are additional endings to do that also appear, doth and doeth being examples.

Don't, however, is a contraction, and contractions don't seem to have appeared in written English until later.


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[sleipnir214]

As an addendum, the etymology section of the entry for do at YourDictionary.com reads:

Middle English [tt]don[/tt], from Old English [tt]d

n[/tt]; see [tt]dh

-[/tt] in Indo-European roots.


So I'd say the word has been around a while.


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[ESquared]

hold -> old

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[Chance1234]

thinking about it, "Do" appears in the olde bardes stuff. Think this could be a case of the presenter getting mixed up.

Chance,

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,

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[sleipnir214]

He's probably correct about don't. I don't think English could have supported contractions well until it shed a lot of its verb endings, and that process didn't complete until long after King James' time.


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[GwydionM]

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, its use as a contraction of do not goes back as far as 1670. It seems to have become popular in the 19th century, when the pace of life began speeding up andwestartedrunningthingstogether

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[sleipnir214]

James I ruled from 1603 to 1625 and the KJV Bible was first publised in 1611.

That's a little before the OED's date. Since the OED must use references in written English, I'm wondering if don't was used in spoken English at the time, but hadn't appeared in print.

I'm guessing that if it were, it would not have been used in the KJV, as that version seems to use a more formal English.


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