Re: Millborough and Milbrey
in reply to a message by Cleveland Kent Evans
If anyone is wondering why there are two different forms, it is the same reason some cites are -bury, and others -borough — these are the derived from the oblique and nominative declensions respectively. Circumstances will dictate which form becomes standard once the declensions fall out of use, e.g. we will frequently hear about the Archbishop of Canterbury, and Canterbury Cathedral, in both these instances, Canterbury will have been in the oblique case, so the -bury form becomes standardized for the city name. An oblique declension becoming the normal form is something that happens generally with the names of women (women's names of this period are recorded far less frequently, and so it is far more likely that an individual will only be recorded in an oblique case).