Spelling and pronunciation

Long open or long closed <e/ee >

PDE spelling <ee> feet  closed

PDE spelling <ea> fear  open

Long open or long closed <oo/o>

Pronounced as /u/ good  closed

Pronounced as /oa/ in goat, open  open

Spelling evidence
PDE spelling system has silent letters, which testify to a ME pronunciation that has since changed.
such as ‘knight’, the preservation of such spellings provides important clues to the ways such words
were once pronounced. Over a period of time, the pronunciation of the word has changed, while

Rhyming evidence
The words that Chaucer rhymes with each other suggest a similar pronunciation, we can use this to
prove the pronunciation of words we’re not sure about.
Comparative evidence
The comparison of ME forms with other stages of the English language and other Germanic
languages.

Determiners and nouns

Determiners

o Definite article; the

o The indefinite article; (a)n, in ME also used before words beginning with < h >
o The demonstratives;

PDE That Those This These
ME That tho This Thise, these

 The ME distinction between ‘this’ and ‘these’, this and thise , seems to have been a
purely written one, as metrical evidence suggests that the final < -e > was not
pronounced.
 This/ thise; used by Chaucer to control or organize a piece of narrative
 Demonstratives only found in ME;
- Ilke/thilke = the same; best translated as “that”
- Yon = yonder  northern dialect
- Hym translated as “that”

Nouns

In ME syntax contrary to PDE; also agreement within the noun phrase. Inflexions (= special word
endings) were added to indicate the function of a word (cases) This system was already used in OE.

case grammatical Inflection Inflection PDE example

function singular plural

nominative subject stoon stoones “The boy kicked the ball to his friend”

accusative Direct subject stoon stoones “The boy kicked the ball to his friend”

genitive Marks possession stoones stoones “The boy kicked his friend’s ball”

dative Indirect objects stoon(e) stoones “The boy kicked the ball to his friend”
(often after
prepositions)
Nouns were inflected for number

Plural inflexion

 The inflexions most used by Chaucer <-s, -es> but also <-is, -ys> (northern form)
- Hertes,
- Wyvys,
 Words ending with <-t> form their plural by adding <-z>
- Argumentz, instrumentz, servantz
 Some nouns take <-en> (from the OE weak noun declension)
- Children, oxen (still in PDE)
- Eyen, doughtren (not in PDE)
 Some nouns can take both <-en> and <-es>
- Shoon – shoes
- Sustren – sustres
 Some nouns take no inflexion, especially those ending with <-s>, in this case you need to look
at the surrounding verbs or adjectives to know its plural.
- Vers, hors
 The mutated plural
- Goose – geese
- Foot – feet

In ME no distinction between genitive singular and plural inflexions

- The boy’s book vs. the boys’ book (PDE)

Pronouns
 Pronouns were inflicted by number, case and gender
 Ethic dative; used to reinforce the subject
- ‘I wol me hast’
 No formal distinction between accusative and dative cases
 Difference I, Ich, Ik represents dialect distinctions
 The 3rd person singular neuter pronoun his, translated to PDE its
 3rd person plural pronouns; OE pronouns, hie, hiera, him, mixed with the ON(=Old Norse)
pronouns, they, their, them
 Hir can be both;
- 3rd person singular feminine genitive, dative or accusative (PDE ‘her’)
- 3rd person plural all genders genitive (PDE ‘their’);
 His can be either;
- 3rd person singular masculine, genitive (PDE ‘his’)
- 3rd singular neuter gender, genitive (PDE ‘its’).
 personal pronouns used by Chaucer 1

Thou vs. ye

 Thou;
- Grammatically singular
- Informal pronoun, used in friendly, top-to-bottom relation (also from parent to kid,
lord vs. vassal), expressing lack of respect, patronizing; it is also used for God because
he is a friend.
 Ye;
- Grammatically plural;
- can also be used to address one person in a formal way.
- Formal pronoun, employed in bottom-to-top relation (also from kid to
parent), to show respect, to keep distance, common pronoun between
aristocratic spouses. Used for and by pagan gods (cf. Aurelius invoking the
pagan gods in The Franklin’s Tale).
Adjectives
The function of an adjective is to modify a noun. Adjectives appear within noun phrases (the worthy
man)

 Most common adjective inflexion; <-e>

- ‘a smal hound’ vs. ‘smale houndes’

Weak/strong adjectives

The distinction between weak and strong adjectives derived from OE.

Spelling shows the weak strong distinction only in singular adjectives, because the plural inflection is
always <-e>.

> A yong man/ The yonge man (singular) vs. Yonge men / The yonge men (plural)

This distinction only applies to adjectives that;

 are monosyllabic
 are of OE origin
 end in a consonant

Weak declension

o When the adjective:

 Is modified by a determiner
- Definite article, the (the olde man)
- Demonstrative pronoun, this, that (this oolde man)
- Genitive pronoun, his, my, her
- Noun(phrase) in the genitive (Goddes beste wil)
 Modifies a proper noun; names of places, people etc. (goode Venus)
 Is part of a vocative expression, direct address (O leeve brother…)
 Weak adjectives end with <-e>

Strong declension

o when the adjective:

 is modified by the indefinite article a(n)
 is not modified by any determiner
 is in predicate adjective position
- the man was oold

verbs

ME has a great number of different verb forms

Present tense

 ME PDE
Singular Loue Love
Louest Love
Loueth Loves
Plural Loue(n) Love

Some exceptions to this;

 Plural <-e> or <-en>; when followed by a word beginning with a vowel or <h>, the <-e>
would be elided, the <-en> would not. (this was used by Chaucer as a metrical device)
 In the plural form the ending <-es> is also possible, but exclusively in the northern dialect
in the Reeve’s tale.
 3rd person singular form usually ends with <-eth>, but <-(e)s> is also by Chaucer, mainly in
Northern dialect
 ! verbs in the 3rd person singular, whose stem ends with a dental consonant (<t> or <d>),
are often contracted. these forms are very similar to the past tense, so pay attention.

Verb Stem vowel 3rd person singular

Ride Rid Rideth or rit
Written Writ Writeth
Binden Bynt Byndeth
Sitten Sit Sitteth

Preterite forms (past tense)

Weak/strong verb conjugations

 Weak verbs
- Form their preterite through the addition of the <-(e)d> inflexion

 Strong verbs
- Form their preterite by changing their stem vowel
Weak Strong
Singular Louede Bounde
Louedest Bounde
Louede Bounde
Plural Louede(n) Bounde(n)

 Verbs that change their stem vowel and add t/d suffix to stem are weak!
Present participle

 The <y-> prefix derives from OE <ge-> (it was in the process of being dropped, Chaucer
used this for metrical purposes)
 The final <-n> is used by Chaucer for metrical purposes

Weak Strong
Present participle Louyng(e) Bindyng(e)
Past participle (y)louede (y)bounde(n)

Verbs that are weak in PDE but strong in ME;

 Climb, climbed – clombe

 Creep, crept – crope
 Help, helped – holpe

Some verbs had variant forms;

 The past participle of bere

- Ybore , yborn, bore, born
 Third singular of the preterite;
- Bar, beer

Some verbs had strong and weak forms

 Weep in part participle

- Wept and wopen

Other methods of indicating tense in ME

 The use of complex verb phrases, such as an auxiliary followed by a main verb
- I have loved and I had loved.
 In the case of transitive verbs (verbs which take a direct object) the construction have +
past participle is used
 for intransitive verbs (which cannot take a direct object) be + past participle is used

Irregular verb be
Will and shall

 In OE these verbs had a purely lexical function indicating, wishing or wanting.

 In ME these verbs are also used to indicate future tense.

Auxiliary verb; gan

 Gan followed by the infinitive was used to indicate past tense

 Had metrical advantages
 Literal meaning, began
 Can also mark the beginning of an action

Passive voice

 Expressed by using be + past participle

Subjunctive mood

 Concerned with the speaker’s attitude towards an utterance, rather than its content.
 Used when the speaker;
- Is uncertain about what they are saying
- Is expressing a possibility
- Is expressing a desire
 In OE; marked through the use of inflexions, but blurred in the transition from OE to ME
 In conditional sentences, often beginning with if or though
- And If thou take a wyf unto thyn hoold
 Optative sentences, expressing a wish or desire, and after verbs expressing uncertainty;
hope, trowe and thynke.
- For which I hope his soule be in glorie

 Subjunctive verb forms;

 
Present Loue Binde
Singular Loue Binde
Loue Binde
Plural Loue(n) Binde(n)
Preterite
Singular Louede
Louede
Loude
Plural Louede(n)
- First person singular form is identical with the indicative.
 The subjunctive verb form is very similar to the indicative, this similarity led to an
increasing use of the indicative, where a subjunctive was required;
- In a conditional clause; If thou lovest thyself, thou lovest thy wyf
- After verbs expressing uncertainty; I trowe thou woldest loke me in thy chiste!
- In one instance (in the description of the parson) the verb trowe is followed by the
indicative ys rather than the expected subjunctive be.
- A bettre preest I trowe that nowher noon ys
- This may be further evidence for the loss of the subjunctive during the ME
period. Chaucer might have used it to rhyme with nonys in the line above, or
to emphasize the Parson’s qualities as a priest. (emphasizing the lack of
uncertainty)
 New method; As a result of this lack of formal distinctiveness ME developed a new method
of indicating the subjunctive mood;
- using the verbs may and might

infinitive form

This form takes the <-e(n)> ending, mainly for metrical purposes. It may be accompanied by the
preposition to or for to, also used for metrical effect.

Imperative
Is used to express commands

 PDE; one imperative form; run! Move!

 ME has singular and plural forms
Singular Loue Bind
Plural Loueth Bindeth

- The choice of singular and plural was not exclusively based on number;
- the plural form could also express deference or formality when addressing an
individual.
- This distinction was not always maintained

Impersonal verbs

 More common in ME than in OE

 Constructions where the pronoun is the object of the verb rather than its subject
 - me thynketh, me semed, hym leste
 sometimes a dummy subject it is introduced
- me thynketh it acordaunt to resoun
 rare in PDE, but used in; it is snowing

phrasal verbs

 verbs that consist of two elements

- stand up, go up
 probably arose through contact with Old Norse

negation

 inherited from OE
 negation was indicated with the negative particle ne
 often emphasized using nat, noght, nought
- but he ne lefte nat, for reyn ne thonder
 in Chaucer also examples of sentences with only nat, noght, nought
- this dropping of ne is particularly associated with colloquial usage (not formal)
 when ne is followed by a verb starting with <w>; often shortened, but not always
- and he nas nat right fat, I undertake (ne + was = nas)
- but, sooth to seyn, I noot how men hym calle (ne + woot = noot)
- as she tat nyste what was best to rede (ne + wyste = nyste)
 double or even triple negatives (often) had a reinforcing effect (contrary to the PDE
stigmatization of double neagtives)
- effect of such reinforcement; to make clear the scope of the negation, whereas single
negative particles often cause some ambiguity in interpretation
 another way of marking emphasis in negation; replacing nat/noght with a stronger
equivalent, such as;
- namoore
- nothyng
- nevere
- noon
 another type of negation; the construction ne…but
- can be used to mean ‘only’
- that I ne sholde wedded be but ones
- an increased sense of inevitability
- this world nys but a thurghfare ful of wo (nys but; nothing more than)
 the emphasis may also be increased by placing the negative particle in a more marked
position
- moving it to a position before the verb
- stressing it using the metre

adverbs
  In ME many adverbs are formed by the addition <-ly> to the adjective;
- Swete  swetely
- Trewe  trewely
- Nyce  nicely
 Many adverbs do not have the <-ly>, they are marked by the ending <-e>;
- Loude, Cleere, Faste, Faire
- These adverbs are often identical to the related adjectives, which may cause
confusion. (Examples on page 123)
 Some adverbs may be formed either way;
- Cleerly, cleere
- be aware! cleere can easily be mistaken for the weak adjective
 The least common adverbial ending is <-lich(e)>
- Namely, namelich
 Some adverbs take all three endings
- Newe, newely, newliche
 All this variation was useful for metrical purposes

Relative pronouns
Relative pronouns in ME function in a similar way to those in PDE, however there are some slight
differences;

 PDE distinguishes between human and non-human referents in the use of who(m) and
which. ME did not make this distinction
 In ME; where the referent is plural the relative often takes an <-e> inflection to show
agreement
- That ye swiche meenes make it to destroyen
 ME also employed the construction which that
- This squier, which that highte Aureliu
 Other constructions were the which or the which that;
- He fil in office with a chamberleyn, the which that dwellinge was with Emelye
 as in PDE that also functioned as a relative marker on its own
- Aurelius, that his cost hath al forlorn
 Chaucer also uses whos and whom much as in PDE
- Bifore whos child angeles synge Osanne
- However; who is never used as a relative pronoun and is only found functioning as an
interrogative, marking questions.

Sentence structure
 ME word order is very similar to PDE word order, but it is more flexible and preserves
some variant structures inherited from OE.
 Most common word order; subject-verb-object
 In ME it is possible for the verb phrase to be placed further in the sentence
- This Nicholas his dore faste shette
- This Nicholas = subject, his dore = object, shette = verb
  When complex verb phrases are used, it is common to find the main verb split from the
auxiliary, so it can appear in rhyming position
- And whan they han this blissful mayden sayn
 Another OE practice is the reversal of the subject and the verb following an adverbial;
- In Surrye whilom dwelte a compaignye
of chapmen riche, and therto sadde and trewe
 The reversal of the subject and verb is also employed as a means of marking questions
- Why rise ye so rathe?
- In this manner of forming questions, it is common to find the second person pronoun thou/thow
joined to the verb
- Why so? Quod I, why wiltow lette me wilt + thow
 This way of forming questions was important in ME, as do-support was not introduced till
Early Modern English.
 Subordinate clauses; dependent upon a main clause and cannot stand alone;
- Whan that April with his shoures soote and whan zephirus eek with his sweete breeth
- Both are dependent upon the main clause; thanne longen folk to goon on pilgramages
 The difference between the subordinating conjunctions used in ME and PDE;
- The optional addition of that in ME
 Coordinated clauses; main clauses linked by coordinating conductions such as and, or but

Forms of addresses
Medieval society maintained a hierarchical social structure The way harry Bailly addresses the
pilgrims

Discourse markers

- Elements with little or no semantic meaning, whose use is governed by pragmatic principles.
They occur mostly in speech, can be single words or phrases. PDE examples; so, well, y’know I
mean.
- well in PDE is used;
 as a frame maker; to mark the beginning of a new topic or introduce a piece of reported
direct speech
 to mitigate a face-threatening act by reducing the force of confrontation
 as a qualifier; where a speaker fails to provide a complete or sufficient answer to a
question
 as a pause filler; to fill a silence or gap in a conversation
- ME uses of wel
 Used to introduce a new section or topic in a discourse
 to mitigate a face-threatening act
 to temporarily play down any offence and avoid a direct confrontation

- Another discourse marker used by Chaucer is lo, it may be used

 To attract or direct an audience’s attention
 By the narrator to mark a rhetorical statement that conveys a truth that has a relevance
beyond the immediate context of the story.
 When a speaker cites a learned authority
- “lo how that Jacob … lo Judith … Lo Abigayl”
 To introduce a citation from an authority
- “Loo what seith seint Augustyn”
 as a framing device to mark the end of a piece of discourse or text

Week 12

Horobin, Chapter 5: ‘Chaucer’s vocabulary’

Vocabulary

ME vocabulary knows four main sources: Old English, Old Norse, French, and Latin.

The words inherited from OE comprise the core, such as the kinship terms: father,

mother, brother, and sister.

Other words have been introduced as a result of borrowing. This is a straightforward

process in which a new word is adopted in order to express a new concept. In some

instances the meaning of new words overlap with existing words, leading to new and

changed meanings.

OE only knows a few loanwords, they include words of Latin origin, such as abbod

(abbot), deofol (devil), engel (angel), and cirice (church). These words are evidently

related to the introduction and spread of Christianity.

The main source of new words in the ME period was the borrowing of words from

other languages.

The adaption of ON vocabulary in ME varried according to geography, reflecting

patterns of Viking settlement in the Anglo-Saxon period.

-basic words : egg, husband, knife, leg, take, Thursday, ugly, want, window.

-third person plural pronouns : they, their, them.

-present plural form of the verb be: are.

The number of Latin words in ME is comparatively small, and they tend to be

associated with specialized areas such as religion and learning. It is often difficult to

determine whether a word was borrowed from Latin or French, because French itself

borrowed from Latin.

Aureate diction is a fifteenth century style of writing, which emplyed numerous

Latinate words to create an elevated style. It was artificial and poetic, but was not

adopted into English.

French is the largest group of words borrowed. It is a direct result of the Norman

Conquest (1066). It can be divided into two stages:

-First stage : words borrowed from Norman French origin. These words relate to

the law and government, and church.

-Second stage : words borrowed from central French dialect. These words relate to

refined and elevated areas of English culture, such as art, fashion, and food. It is

this stage where most of the words were borrowed.

Derivation is when French borrowings were subjected to the processes of

compounding and affixation.

-Compounding is the combining of a French loanword with an other English word

to produce new terms.

-Affixation is when French endings (such as –able) were added to English words

to create new formations.