The first time I heard “mine host” in Shakespeare’s Macbeth, I went to Wiktionary to see if it once was used instead of “my,” however, I ended up with that it should not be followed by a noun but rather use “my” instead and I can’t find further references referring to Shakespeare’s usage.
My question is whether it’s acceptable to use “mine + noun” as a matter of rhetoric like Shakespeare once did and whether this usage is archaic ?
Further explanation is appreciated!
Answer
The exact definition in wiktionary you mentioned is number 5:
- (archaic) Used attributively before a vowel. quotations
Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord
wiktionary.org
Actually I would say it’s more a possessive pronoun or possessive adjective (terminology differs) rather than being used attributively, but that’s my opinion.
Notice that it’s archaic, so it’s not used anymore directly preceding nouns in this way anymore. That is unless you want to sound archaic or facetious or something.
Also notice that it’s particularly used when preceding a word beginning with a vowel or an unsounded ‘h’. This is attested to in other dictionaries I’ve checked, ie., American Heritage Dictionary, Collins English Dictionary. This is something I didn’t actually know. Thanks for the lesson.
Attribution
Source : Link , Question Author : Arch Capital , Answer Author : Zebrafish