Interjections in Middle English
-
Hans Sauer✝
Abstract
In “The Reeve’s Tale” (ReevT) from his Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer (ca. 1345–1400) uses 27–41 different interjections (depending on how one counts). In the present article these are described, analyzed and interpreted. Moreover, I look into the extent to which they are typical of Middle English (ME) interjections in general or of Chaucer and his ReevT in particular. A brief preliminary discussion of the term “interjection“ (or “exclamation”) is given in Section 1, a short review of research on ME interjections in Section 2, and a thumbnail sketch of ReevT in Section 3. The interjections that occur in ReevT are listed in Section 4, where some problematic cases are also discussed. After that, details of their use and origin are described. Section 5 looks at how Chaucer uses interjections to characterize his figures, Section 6 at phonologic and morphologic aspects (e.g. the distinction between primary and secondary interjections), Section 7 at their position in the sentence (initial, medial, final, consecutively, or variable), and Section 8 at semantic and pragmatic aspects, i.e. their use as expressions of emotion, but also as greeting and farewell formulae, as attention and response getters (including cries for help), as response forms, as emphasizers and corroboratives (merging into swear words), etc. Section 9 discusses their etymology and distinguishes between native and borrowed interjections. Section 10 investigates the frequency of the interjections in ReevT and compares it with their general frequency in ME. The numbers for the general frequency are based on the Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse (CMEPV), which is available on the internet. The range is from very frequent interjections such as lo/loo, which is attested almost 5,000 times, and alas/allas (ca. 3,800 times), to interjections of medium frequency, for example harrow with ca. 55 attestations, and to some seven hapax legomena, such as by Goddes herte, for Cristes peyne, and jossa. It is difficult to tell whether the latter were coined by Chaucer or more commonly used but not otherwise attested due to the vagaries of transmission and the nature of the texts that were normally committed to writing and did not favour emphasizers and swear words. To complete the picture, Section 11 lists other interjections that Chaucer uses elsewhere, but not in ReevT.
Abstract
In “The Reeve’s Tale” (ReevT) from his Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer (ca. 1345–1400) uses 27–41 different interjections (depending on how one counts). In the present article these are described, analyzed and interpreted. Moreover, I look into the extent to which they are typical of Middle English (ME) interjections in general or of Chaucer and his ReevT in particular. A brief preliminary discussion of the term “interjection“ (or “exclamation”) is given in Section 1, a short review of research on ME interjections in Section 2, and a thumbnail sketch of ReevT in Section 3. The interjections that occur in ReevT are listed in Section 4, where some problematic cases are also discussed. After that, details of their use and origin are described. Section 5 looks at how Chaucer uses interjections to characterize his figures, Section 6 at phonologic and morphologic aspects (e.g. the distinction between primary and secondary interjections), Section 7 at their position in the sentence (initial, medial, final, consecutively, or variable), and Section 8 at semantic and pragmatic aspects, i.e. their use as expressions of emotion, but also as greeting and farewell formulae, as attention and response getters (including cries for help), as response forms, as emphasizers and corroboratives (merging into swear words), etc. Section 9 discusses their etymology and distinguishes between native and borrowed interjections. Section 10 investigates the frequency of the interjections in ReevT and compares it with their general frequency in ME. The numbers for the general frequency are based on the Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse (CMEPV), which is available on the internet. The range is from very frequent interjections such as lo/loo, which is attested almost 5,000 times, and alas/allas (ca. 3,800 times), to interjections of medium frequency, for example harrow with ca. 55 attestations, and to some seven hapax legomena, such as by Goddes herte, for Cristes peyne, and jossa. It is difficult to tell whether the latter were coined by Chaucer or more commonly used but not otherwise attested due to the vagaries of transmission and the nature of the texts that were normally committed to writing and did not favour emphasizers and swear words. To complete the picture, Section 11 lists other interjections that Chaucer uses elsewhere, but not in ReevT.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- List of abbreviations vii
- Introduction 1
-
Corpus linguistics today and tomorrow
- Can’t see the wood for the trees? 13
- Spelling variation in Middle English manuscripts 31
-
Aspects of language change
- The development of compound numerals in English Biblical translations 49
- The complements of causative make in Late Middle English 59
- The pragmaticalization and intensification of verily , truly and really 75
- Concept-driven semasiology and onomasiology of CLERGY 93
- ANGER and TĒNE in Middle English 109
-
Middle and Modern English case studies
- The subjunctive vs. modal auxiliaries 127
- Some notes on the distribution of the quantifier all in Middle English 141
- Interjections in Middle English 157
- Why and what in Early Modern English drama 177
- Colloquialization and not -contraction in nineteenth-century English 191
-
Wright’s English Dialect Dictionary and thereafter
- The complexity and diversity of the words in Wright’s English Dialect Dictionary 209
- Etymology in the English Dialect Dictionary 225
- Towards an understanding of Joseph Wright’s sources 241
- The importance of being Janus 257
- ... ging uns der ganze alte Dialektbegriff in eine Illusion auf 269
- Index 285
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- List of abbreviations vii
- Introduction 1
-
Corpus linguistics today and tomorrow
- Can’t see the wood for the trees? 13
- Spelling variation in Middle English manuscripts 31
-
Aspects of language change
- The development of compound numerals in English Biblical translations 49
- The complements of causative make in Late Middle English 59
- The pragmaticalization and intensification of verily , truly and really 75
- Concept-driven semasiology and onomasiology of CLERGY 93
- ANGER and TĒNE in Middle English 109
-
Middle and Modern English case studies
- The subjunctive vs. modal auxiliaries 127
- Some notes on the distribution of the quantifier all in Middle English 141
- Interjections in Middle English 157
- Why and what in Early Modern English drama 177
- Colloquialization and not -contraction in nineteenth-century English 191
-
Wright’s English Dialect Dictionary and thereafter
- The complexity and diversity of the words in Wright’s English Dialect Dictionary 209
- Etymology in the English Dialect Dictionary 225
- Towards an understanding of Joseph Wright’s sources 241
- The importance of being Janus 257
- ... ging uns der ganze alte Dialektbegriff in eine Illusion auf 269
- Index 285
