TR5.1793 Ănd fór thĕr ís sŏ grét dĭvérsĭté
TR5.1794 Ĭn Énglĭssh ánd ĭn wríty̆ng óf ŏure tóngĕ,
TR5.1795 Sŏ préy Ĭ Gód thăt nón my̆swrítĕ thé,
TR5.1796 Nĕ thé my̆smétrĕ fór dĕfáute ŏf tóngĕ;
TR5.1797 Ănd réd whĕrsó thŏw bé, ŏr éllĕs sóngĕ,
TR5.1798 Thăt thów bĕ úndĕrstónde, Gŏd Í bĭséchĕ!
TR5.1799 Bŭt yét tŏ púrpŏs óf my̆ ráthĕr spéchĕ:

Line Information

• Differences among the manuscripts and editions:
• English translations (Windeatt: 1998): And because there is such great diversity in English, and in the writing of our tongue, I pray to God that no one mistranscribe you, nor ruin the metre on account of any deficient command of the language. And wherever you may be read, or else sung, I beseech God that you may be understood! But now back to the point of what I was saying before.
• Japanese translations (Sasamoto: 2012): わが国語は音や綴りにおいて、著しい多様性があるために、私は誰もが汝を写し誤らないようにと神に祈る、また韻律も言語力不足のせいで誤らないようにと祈る。汝はどこで読まれようと歌われようと、理解されるようにと神に切に願う！ともあれ、これから話の本筋に再びもどろう。
• Chinese translations (Fang: 1956): 英文写作的格调是繁复的，愿上帝勿让旁人誊抄错误，或因发音的缺陷而错读了韵律。在唱诵的时候，愿上帝勿使人误解了原意！现在且回到原题上来。—

Word Information

• Etymology: From rathe adj.
• Addresser: Narrator
• Addressee: N/A
• Adjectives with which juxtaposed: N/A
• Counterpart in its source (Fil): N/A
• Noun(s) (NPs) modified: speech (speech)
• Attributive/ Predicative: attributive

Information in Previous Studies

• OED: Not quoted
• MED: Not quoted

• Commented in other previous works:
• Windeatt (2003: 344): rather: former
• Fisher (1989: 532): rathere: earlier
• Benson (1987: 584): rather: earlier
• Davis et al. (1979): former (s.v. rather, adj.)
• Donaldson (1975: 996): rather: earlier
• Baugh (1963: 210): rather: earlier

Possible Definitions

earlier, former

Comments from the Editor

See my comment of ‘gret’ (adj. & adv. &n., Tr5.1793).