3. brief
Cauthen's statistics suggest that B has a two to one preference for
briefe over breefe. In the Paviers, only one
justified
-ee- form occurs in copy and this is followed by B. Of the
twenty-one (+J3) -ie- forms in copy, B changes five to
-ee- and retains sixteen (+J3) as -ie-. From this
evidence, it would appear that any preference which these statistics point
toward is for -ee- over -ie-. To complete the
picture,
it would be necessary to be able to observe B's treatment of several
-ee- forms when found in copy.
