<<<<< This doesn’t appear to be a regional difference, as the same
authors used
both. That one author would use both suggests that the two different
forms
had distinct meanings that were recognized by native speakers.
(incidentally, when I learned German, the local dialect pronounced
milk as
“Milich”.) >>>>>
Karl W. Randolph.
Karl, this was precisely what I was trying to understand, are there
any conjectures then as to the possible two different nuances?