Part II

. of the same. In the present instance, I have revised the meanings assigned and all the references; and I trust that not many are incorrect.

The glossaries to Chaucer by Tyrwhitt and Dr. Morris are both excellent; but we now require one on a larger scale.

s. 15. CRITICISM. A brief explanation may here suffice. The conspicuous avoidance, in this edition, of any approach to what has been called aesthetic criticism, has been intentional. Let it not be hence inferred that I fail to appreciate the easy charm of Chaucer's narrative, the delicious flow of his melodious verse, the saneness of his opinions, the artistic skill with which his characters are drawn, his gentle humour, and his broad sympathy. It is left to the professed critic to enlarge upon this theme; he can be trusted to do it thoroughly.

s. 16. THE DIALECT OF CHAUCER.

The dialect of Chaucer does not materially differ from that which has become the standard literary language; that is to say, it mainly represents the East-Midland, as spoken in London and by the students of Oxford and Cambridge. This dialect, as is well known, is not wholly pure, but is of a comprehensive nature, admitting several forms that strictly belong to other dialects, chiefly Northern. Remarkable examples occur in the words _they_, _their_, _them_, and the verbal form _are_, all of which were originally Northern. Chaucer, however, does not employ the forms _their_ and _them_, though he admits the nominative _they_; instead of _their_, he has _her_, _hir_, _here_, or _hire_ (always monosyllabic); and for _them_ he invariably has _hem_[13]. Examples of _are_ occur here and there in Chaucer (see _Are_, _Arn_ in the Glossary), but are remarkably rare; his usual form is _been_ or _ben_. We even find the Southern _beth_ (F 648). In fact, the Midland dialect, from its intermediate position, was the one which was most widely understood; and, in extending its dominion over the other dialects, occasionally admitted forms that did not originally belong to it.

s. 17. KENTISH FORMS. It is, however, well worth notice that Chaucer was at one time resident at Greenwich, perhaps during the whole period between 1385 and 1399 (see vol. i. pp. xxxviii, xlii, xlv); and was even chosen a member of parliament for Kent. The effect of this upon his writings is rather plainly marked, and has been clearly shewn in my paper on this subject printed for the Chaucer Society, from which some examples are here extracted.

The chief test for Kentish is the use of _e_ to represent the A.S. short _y_, which usually became _u_ in Southern, and _i_ in Midland. Thus the A.S. verb _cyssan_, to kiss, is represented by the Southern _kussen_, the Midland _kissen_ (as in literary English), but in Kentish by _kessen_. Hence we find in Chaucer, the infin. _kisse_, D 1254, and the pt. t. _kiste_, B 3746, regularly; but we also find the Kentish _kesse_, E 1057, and the pt. t. _keste_, F 350. We can well understand that these variations were made for the sake of the rimes, since the riming words are, respectively, _blisse_, _wiste_, and _stedfastnesse_, _reste_. Other double forms are _brigge_, _bregge_ (in the compound _Cantebregge_)[14]; _fulfille_, _fulfelle_; _kin_, _ken_; _knitte_, _knette_, and the pp. _knit_, _knet_[15]; the pp. _y-stint_, _stent_; _thinne_, _thenne_ (thin). Further, we find Midland _abye_, Kentish _abegge_; and (without corresponding Midland forms) the Kentish _berien_, to bury; _dent_ (in _thonder-dent_)[16]; _melle_, a mill; _selle_, a floor, Mod. E. _sill_ (A.S. _syll_); _sherte_, shirt (Icel. _skyrta_); _shetten_ to shut, pp. _y-shet_ (A.S. _scyttan_); _steren_, to stir (A.S. _styrian_)[17]. In one case Chaucer uses all three forms, viz. _merie_ (A 208); _mirie_, E 2217, 2326; and _murie_ (A 1386, E 1733). The Southern _murie_ is only resorted to in order to secure a rime to _Merc['u]rie_.

Another test for Kentish is the use of _[=e]_ for A.S. long _[=y]_; as in Kentish _fer_, _feer_, A.S. _f[=y]r_, fire. Here, also, we find in Chaucer the occurrence of duplicate forms. Examples are seen in Midland _dr[=y]e_, dry (A.S. _dr[=y]ge_), Kentish _dr[=e]ye_; Midland _f[=y]r_, fire (A.S. _f[=y]r_), Kentish _f[=e]re_, Troil. i. 229, iii. 978; Midland _hid_, hidden, Kentish _hed_; Midl. _thriste_, to thrust, Kentish _threste_[18].

This use of Kentish forms by Chaucer is of considerable interest. Of course, they occur still more freely in Gower, who was of a Kentish family.

s. 18. PRONUNCIATION.

The M.E. pronunciation was widely different from the present, especially in the case of the vowel-sounds. The sounds of the vowels were nearly as in French and Italian. They can be denoted by phonetic _invariable_ symbols, here distinguished by being enclosed within marks of parenthesis. I shall here use the same symbols as are employed in my Principles of English Etymology. Of course, these symbols must be used as defined. Thus the symbol (oo), being defined to mean the sound of the German _o_ in _so_, will not be understood by the reader who pronounces it like the _oo_ in _root_.

s. 19. VOWELS. (aa), as _a_ in f_a_ther; (a) short, as in _a_ha! (ae), open long _e_, as _a_ in M_a_ry; (e), open short _e_, as _e_ in b_e_d; (ee), close long _e_, as _e_ in v_e_il[19]; (i) short, as French _i_ in f_i_n_i_, or nearly, as Eng. _i_ in f_i_n; (ii), as (_ee_) in d_ee_p: (ao), open long _o_, as _aw_ in s_aw_, or _o_ in gl_o_ry; (o), open short _o_, as _o_ in n_o_t; (oo), close long _o_, as _o_ in n_o_te, or _o_ in German s_o_; (u), as _u_ in f_u_ll; (uu), as _oo_ in f_oo_l; (y), as F. _u_ in F. ['e]c_u_; (yy), as long G. _[:u]_ in gr_[:u]_n. Also ([*e]), as the final _a_ in China.

DIPHTHONGS. (ai), as _y_ in fl_y_; (au), as _ow_ in n_ow_; (ei), as _ei_ in v_ei_l, or _ey_ in pr_ey_; (oi), as _oi_ in b_oi_l.

s. 20. CONSONANTS (SPECIAL). (k), as _c_ in _c_at; (s), as _c_ in _c_ity; (ch), as _ch_ in _ch_urch; (tch), as in ca_tch_; (th), as voiceless _th_ in _th_in; (dh), as voiced _th_ in _th_ine. I also use (h), when _not initial_, to denote a guttural sound, like G. _ch_ in Na_ch_t, Li_ch_t, but weaker, and slightly varying with the preceding vowel. This sound was usually denoted by (gh) in Chaucer MSS., but was then rapidly becoming extinct, with a lengthening of the preceding vowel. Thus the word _light_, originally (liht), with short _i_ and a strong guttural, was about to become (liit), in which the guttural has disappeared. At the end of the fourteenth century, the vowel was already half-long, and the guttural sound was slight; yet Chaucer never rimes such words as _bright_, _light_, _right_, with words such as _despyt_, _spite_[20]; cf. p. xxviii. l. 5.

s. 21. An accent is denoted by (.), as in M.E. _name_ (naa.m[*e]), where the _a_ is long and accented, and the final _e_ is like _a_ in China.

By help of these symbols, it is possible to explain the meaning of the M.E. symbols employed by the scribe of the Ellesmere MS. of the Canterbury Tales; which furnishes a sufficient approximate guide for the spelling here adopted throughout. The scribe of the Fairfax MS., whence many of the Minor Poems are taken, agrees with the 'Ellesmere' scribe in essentials, though he makes a large number of grammatical mistakes, owing to the loss (in pronunciation) of the final _e_ in the fifteenth century.

s. 22. SYMBOLS. The following is a list of the sounds which the symbols denote.

The forms in thick type are the forms actually written and printed; the forms within parenthesis denote the spoken sounds.

A short; (a). Ex. _al_ (al); _as_ (az). We have no clear evidence to shew that the modern _a_ (ae) in _cat_ (kaet) occurs anywhere in Chaucer; though it is possible that the sound occurred in Southern English, without any special symbol to represent it[21].

A long, or AA; (aa): (1) at the end of an open syllable, as _age_ (aa.j[*e]); (2) before _s_ or _ce_, as _caas_ or _cas_ (kaas); _face_ (faa.s[*e]).

AI, AY (ei). Ex. _array_ (arei.); _fair_ (feir). As in modern English[22]. Note that modern English does not distinguish _pray_ from _prey_ in pronunciation; and spells _way_, from A.S. _weg_, with _ay_ instead of _ey_.

AU, AW (au). Ex. _avaunt_ (avau.nt), riming with mod. E. _count_; _awe_ (au.[*e]).

C, as (k), except before _e_ and _i_: as (s), before _e_ and _i_. As in modern English. Hence, we find some scribes writing _selle_ for _celle_ (sel.l[*e]), mod. E. _cell_; and conversely, the 'Ellesmere' scribe writes _celle_ for _selle_ in A 3822, causing a great difficulty; see the note to the line.

CH (ch); CCH (tch). Ex. _chambre_ (chaam.br[*e]); _cacche_ (cat.ch[*e]).

E short; (e). Ex. _fetheres_ (fedh.rez); the middle _e_ being dropped. It is often convenient to use the symbol '[e.]' to denote an _e_ that is lost in pronunciation. Thus we might print 'feth[e.]res' to shew the loss of the middle _e_ in this word.

E final, unaccented: ([*e]). This final _e_ marks a variety of grammatical inflections, and is frequently either elided or very slightly sounded, and sometimes wholly suppressed in some common words. Ex. _swete_ (swee.t[*e]), sweet. The word _wolde_, would, is often a mere monosyllable: (wuld).

E long and open, or EE; (ae) or ([`e][`e]). Ex. _heeth_ (haeth), or (h[`e][`e]th). This open _e_ came to be denoted by _ea_, and the symbol, though not the sound, is commonly preserved in mod. English; as in _heath_ (hiith). Note that this long _e_, at the end of an open syllable, is usually written with a _single_ letter, as in _clene_ (klae.n[*e]), or (kl[`e][`e].n[*e]), clean. But _cleene_ also occurs in the MSS.

E long and close, or EE; (ee) or (['e]['e]). Ex. _weep_ (weep), or (w['e]['e]p). Note that this long _e_, at the end of an open syllable, is usually written with a _single_ letter, as in _swete_ (swee.t[*e]), sweet. But _sweete_ is also found in MSS.

EW (ee, _followed by_ w). Ex. _newe_ (nee.w[*e]); with a tendency, probably, towards the modern sound (iuu), as in _new_ (niuu).

G hard, i.e. (g), as in _gable_ (gaa.bl[*e]) or (gaa.bl), except before _e_ and _i_ in words of French origin. Thus _gilt_ (gilt), guilt, is of A.S. origin; but _gin_ (jin), a snare, is a shortened form of F. _engin_.

GGE (dj[*e]). Ex. _brigge_ (bridj[*e]).

GH (h), G. _ch_. Ex. _light_ (liiht). As said above, the vowel was at first short, then half-long, as probably in Chaucer, and then wholly long, when the (h) dropped out. Later, (ii) became (ei), and is now (ai). Chaucer never rimes _-ight_ with _-yt_, as in the case of _dight_, _delyt_; Rom. of the Rose, Fragment B 2555.

GN (n), with long preceding vowel; as _digne_ (dii.n[*e]). As Dr. Sweet says, the F. _gn_ was perhaps sometimes pronounced as _ny_ (where the _y_ is consonantal), but in familiar conversation was a simple _n_, preceded by a long vowel or a diphthong.

H (h), as in modern English, when initial. Ex. _hand_ (hand). Chiefly in words of English origin. In words of French origin, initial _h_ was usually mute, and is sometimes not written, as in _eyr_ (eir), an heir. In unemphatic words, it was also frequently mute; so that _hit_ was frequently written _it_, as in modern English.

I, Y, short; (i). Ex. _him_ (him). Owing to the indistinctness of the old written character for _i_, when preceding or following _m_ or _n_, the scribes frequently wrote _y_ instead of it; as in _myd_, _nyl_, _hym_, _dynt_. But as this indistinctness does not reappear in modern printing, I have usually restored the true forms _mid_, _nil_, _him_, _dint_; which enables me to use _y_ as a symbol for long _i_, without confusion. But I use _y_ finally, as in mod. English. Ex. _many_ (man.i).

I, Y, long; (ii). The scribes prefer the symbol _y_; hence I use it almost throughout. Ex. _byte_ (bii.t[*e]), bite; _delyt_ (delii.t), delight.

I consonantal, I (j). There was no symbol for _j_ in M.E., though the sound was common, in words of French origin. The scribes usually wrote _I_, when the sound was initial, as in _Iay_ (jei), a jay. In the middle of a word, it is not distinguishable from the vowel, except by the fact that it precedes a vowel or diphthong, as in _conioyne_ (konjoi.n[*e]), to conjoin.

The old spelling has here been retained, as the use of the modern E. _j_ seemed to involve too great an anachronism; but perhaps this is unpractical. Fortunately, the sound is not common. It is also denoted by _g_ before _e_ or _i_, as noted above. Ex. _Iuge_ (jy.j[*e]), judge.

IE (ee); the same as _ee_, long and close. Not common. Ex. _mischief_, also written _mischeef_ (mischee.f).

LE, often vocalic (l), as in E. _temple_ (temp.l). But note _stables_ (staa.blez).

NG (ngg); always as in E. _linger_. Ex. _thing_ (thingg).

O, short (o), as in _of_ (ov). But here _note particularly_, that it is always (u), i.e. as _u_ in f_u_ll, wherever it has in mod. E. the sound of the written _o_ in _company_, _son_, _monk_, _cousin_, &c. Ex. _sonne_ (sun.n[*e]), sun; _sone_ (sun.[*e]), son[23]; _monk_ (mungk); _moche_ (much.[*e]). In fact, the modern spelling arose from the use of _o_ for _u_, for mere distinctness in the written form, whenever the sound (u) preceded or followed _m_ or _n_ or _i_; and in a few other cases.

O long and open, or OO; (ao) or ([`o][`o]); mod. E. _au_ in _Paul_, or _a_ in _fall_. Ex. _stoon_ (staon) or (st[`o][`o]n), a stone; pl. _stones_ (stao.nez). See s. 25.

O long and close, or OO; (oo) or (['o]['o]); mod. E. _o_ in _note_, or G. _o_ in _so_. Ex. _sote_ (soo.t[*e]), sweet; _good_ (good).

N.B. The M.E. _[=o]_ or _oo_ was never pronounced like the mod. E. _oo_ in _root_ (ruut).

OI, OY (oi). Ex. _noise_ (noi.z[*e]): _voys_ (vois).

OU, OW (uu); except before _gh_. Ex. _flour_ (fluur); _now_ (nuu). Rarely (aou), as in _soule_ (saou.l[*e]) from the A.S. _s[=a]wol_.

OGH (aouh); with open short _o_ as in E. _not_; the _u_ being very slight, and perhaps sometimes almost neglected. It is also written _ough_, as _noght_, _nought_ (naouht). The _u_, in fact, is the result of a peculiar pronunciation of the _gh_. Dr. Sweet clearly explains that, after _e_, _i_, the _gh_ (h) was sounded like the G. _ch_ in _ich_. 'This front _gh_ was vocalized into consonantal _y_ before a vowel, and then generally dropped, as in the plural _hy[:e]_ (hii._y_[*e])[24]. The other _gh_ had the sound of G. _ch_ in _auch_ = the G. _ch_ in _ach_ rounded. Hence it is always preceded either by (uu), as in _ynough_ (inuu.h), _plough_ (pluu.h), or by _u_ forming the second element of a diphthong. This _u_ is always written after _a_, as in _taughte_ (tau.ht[*e]), _laughter_ (lau.hter), while after _o_ it is sometimes written, sometimes left to be inferred from the following _gh_.' See Sweet, Second Middle-English Primer, p. 5.

R is always strongly trilled; never reduced to a vocal murmur, as frequently in modern English.

S (s); as in _sit_ (sit). But voiced to _z_ (z) between two vowels, and finally, as in _ryse_ (rii.z[*e]), to rise, _shoures_ (shuu.rez).

SH (sh), as in modern English, SSH (shsh); as in _fresshe_ (fresh.sh[*e]).

U short; (y). The French sound, as in _Iuge_ (jy.j[*e]). Rarely (u), as in _cut_ (kut), _ful_ (ful); which are not French words.

U long; (yy). Not common; and only French. Ex. _vertu_ (vertyy.); _nature_ (natyy.r[*e]).

V (v), as in modern English. But the MSS. very rarely use this symbol. The sound of _v_ was awkwardly denoted by the use of _u_, followed by a vowel; as in _loue_ (luv.[*e]), love. In the present edition, _v_ is used throughout to denote the consonant.

WE final; (w[*e]), but often merely (u). Ex. _arwes_ (ar.wez); _bowe_ (b[`o].w[*e], b[`o]u.[*e]); _morwe_ (mor.u). So also _blew_ (blee.u); _newe_ (nee.w[*e]).

WH (wh), as in the North of England; not a mere _w_, as in the South.

For the sound of _th_, modern English may be taken as the guide; and the same remark applies to the distinction between _f_ and _v_, and to the variable sound of _s_. Moreover, every letter should be distinctly sounded; the _k_ in _knee_ (kn['e]['e]) and the _w_ in _wryte_ (wrii.t[*e]) were still in use in the time of Chaucer, though now only preserved in the written forms.

s. 23. It will readily be understood that the M.E. vowel-sounds were intermediate between those of Anglo-Saxon and of modern English. They can best be understood by consulting the table at p. 42 of my Primer of English Etymology; and, for French words, that at p. 126 of my Principles of English Etymology, Second Series. The pronunciation of M.E. and of Anglo-French vowels did not materially differ. Instead of here reproducing these tables, I give the approximate pronunciation of the first eighteen lines of the Canterbury Tales. But we must remember, that the pronunciation of words _in a sentence_ is not always the same as when they are taken singly, owing to the accent (or want of accent) due to their position. The word _his_ (hiz) may have its initial _h_ aspirated, when standing alone; but in the phrase _his shoures_, it is taken along with _shoures_, loses its accent and its initial _h_, and becomes (iz). Words are much affected by the manner in which they are thus grouped together. I denote this grouping by the use of a hyphen, and mark the accented syllables by a sloping stroke over every accented vowel; as is usual[25]. The elided final _e_ is denoted by ('). There is no elision at the medial pause; see below (s. 116). The medial pause is here denoted by a sloping stroke, as in the Ellesmere MS.

Wh['a]n-dhat Apr['i]ll[*e]/ w['i]dh iz-sh['u]urez s['o]ot[*e] dh[*e]-dr['u]uht' ov-M['a]rch[*e]/ hath-p['e]rsed t['o]o dh[*e]-r['o]ot[*e], [*e]nd-b['a]adhed ['e]v'ri v['e]in[*e]/ in-sw['i]ch lik['u]ur, ov-wh['i]ch vert['y]y/ enj['e]ndred ['i]z dh[*e]-fl['u]ur, whan-Z['e]fir['u]s ['a]ek/ w['i]dh-iz sw['e]et[*e] br['a]eth insp['i]ired h['a]th/ in-['e]v'ri h['o]lt [*e]nd-h['a]eth dhe-t['e]ndre kr['o]pez/ ['a]nd dhe-y['u]ngg[*e] s['u]nn[*e] h['a]th-in dh[*e]-R['a]m/ iz-h['a]lf[*e] k['u]urs ir['u]nn[*e], [*e]nd-sm['a]al[*e] f['u]ulez/ m['a]aken m['e]lod['i]i[*e], dhat-sl['e]epen ['a]l dh[*e]-n['i]iht/ widh-['a]open ['i]i-[*e]-- sao-pr['i]keth h['e]m nat['y]yr[*e]/ in-h['e]r kur['a]ajez-- dhan-l['o]nggen f['o]lk/ too-g['a]on on-p['i]lgrim['a]ajez, [*e]nd-p['a]lmerz f['o]r too-s['e]eken/ str['a]unj[*e] str['o]ndez too-f['e]rn[*e] h['a]lwez/ k['u]uth' in-s['u]ndri l['o]ndez; [*e]nd sp['e]siall['i]i/ from-['e]v'ri sh['i]irez ['e]nd[*e] ov-['E]nggel['o]nd/ too-K['a]unter.br['i] dhei-w['e]nd[*e], dh[*e]-h['a]oli bl['i]sful m['a]rtir/ f['o]r too-s['e]ek[*e] dhat-h['e]m hath-h['o]lpen/ wh['a]n-dhat dh['e]i waer'-s['e]ek[*e].

s. 24. The above example also shews the mode of scanning the lines, as will be more particularly explained hereafter. It will be seen that the normal number of accents in the line is five, though the fifth line, quite exceptionally, has six, with an additional accent at the caesural pause. It may also be noted here, by the way, that accents are by no means of equal strength. The accents on _with_ in lines 1 and 5, on _to_ in line 2, and on _is_ in l. 4, are but slight; whilst those on the former syllables of _straunge_ and _strondes_ in line 13 are of unusual force.

s. 25. RIMES ILLUSTRATING THE PRONUNCIATION OF LONG O AND LONG E.

It has been said that the values of the M.E. vowels are intermediate between those of the Anglo-Saxon and the modern vowels. The best and surest guide to them is afforded by the A.S. sounds, and it is worth while to illustrate this by special instances.

Let us consider the case of the open and close _o_. These are distinguished by their origin. Thus open long _o_ (ao) arises (1) from A.S. _[=a]_; or (2) from the lengthening of A.S. short _o_ at the end of an open syllable. I have observed that Chaucer frequently makes a difference between the open _o_ that arises from these two sources.

The M.E. (ao) from A.S. _[=a]_ was doubtless wholly long. Examples occur in _lore_ (lao.r[*e]), lore, from A.S. _l[=a]r_; and in _more_ (mao.re), more, from A.S. _m[=a]ra_.

But the M.E. (ao) from the lengthening of A.S. short _o_ was probably somewhat less full, or only half-long, or perhaps, as Dr. Sweet suggests, was somewhat closer. At any rate, Chaucer usually makes a difference between this sound and the former. To keep up the distinction, I shall now write ([`o][`o]) for the former open _o_, and ([`o]) for the latter; so that _lore_ and _more_ will be denoted by (l[`o][`o].r[*e]), (m[`o][`o].r[*e]). Examples of the other (ao) occur in _forlore_ (forl[`o].r[*e]), from A.S. _forloren_, forlorn; _to-fore_ (t['o]['o]-f[`o].r[*e]), from A.S. _t[=o]-foran_; and in the curious word _more_ (m[`o].r[*e]), a root, from the A.S. _mora_. In the fourth stanza of Troilus,