Then and Now. The Language of Chaucer's General Prologue
Then and Now:
Chaucer’s English in The Canterbury Tales:, General Prologue
Veronica Perry
ENGLISH 550
Professor: David Makhanlall
October 6, 2013
The Canterbury Tales by Chaucer is over 600 years old, yet it is still being read and discussed today. What makes it still relevant? History, it gives us a record of Middle English and how it was used at the time. The primary challenge that most reader’s of Chaucer’s General Prologue experience is understanding the language. Although, Chaucer’s English is centuries old it is still recognizable. After studying the language, I noticed the main difference between Middle and Modern English is the pronunciation of long vowels that is reflected by the Great Vowel Shift.
The Great Vowel Shift caused the change in vowel pronunciation. English has been spoken in England since around 450. To be more precise, a set of varieties of West Germanic has been spoken. The three main groups were Angles, Saxons and Jutes (Benson). Beginning in the twelfth and continuing until the eighteenth century (main effects in the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries) the sounds of the long stressed vowels in English changed their places of articulation.(Benson) The pronunciations of short vowels are very similar in Middle and Modern English. The consonants remain generally the same, though Chaucer rolled his r’s, sometimes dropped his aitches and pronounced both elements of consonant combinations, such as “kn,” that were later simplified. (Benson). Understanding these differences is the key to understanding the rhythm and sound of Chaucer’s Prologue. For instance, the Prologue begins:
Whan that Aprill, with his shoures soote
The droghte of March hath perced to the roote (Chaucer 1)
Modern English translation:
When in April the sweet showers fall
And pierce the drought of March to the root, and all (Coghill)
The reader can see the
Chaucer’s English in The Canterbury Tales:, General Prologue
Veronica Perry
ENGLISH 550
Professor: David Makhanlall
October 6, 2013
The Canterbury Tales by Chaucer is over 600 years old, yet it is still being read and discussed today. What makes it still relevant? History, it gives us a record of Middle English and how it was used at the time. The primary challenge that most reader’s of Chaucer’s General Prologue experience is understanding the language. Although, Chaucer’s English is centuries old it is still recognizable. After studying the language, I noticed the main difference between Middle and Modern English is the pronunciation of long vowels that is reflected by the Great Vowel Shift.
The Great Vowel Shift caused the change in vowel pronunciation. English has been spoken in England since around 450. To be more precise, a set of varieties of West Germanic has been spoken. The three main groups were Angles, Saxons and Jutes (Benson). Beginning in the twelfth and continuing until the eighteenth century (main effects in the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries) the sounds of the long stressed vowels in English changed their places of articulation.(Benson) The pronunciations of short vowels are very similar in Middle and Modern English. The consonants remain generally the same, though Chaucer rolled his r’s, sometimes dropped his aitches and pronounced both elements of consonant combinations, such as “kn,” that were later simplified. (Benson). Understanding these differences is the key to understanding the rhythm and sound of Chaucer’s Prologue. For instance, the Prologue begins:
Whan that Aprill, with his shoures soote
The droghte of March hath perced to the roote (Chaucer 1)
Modern English translation:
When in April the sweet showers fall
And pierce the drought of March to the root, and all (Coghill)
The reader can see the
Cited: Benson, L. D. “Chaucer Page.” http://sites.fas.harvard.edu/~chaucer/vowels.html Harvard University, 27 July 2000. Web 4 Oct. 2013 Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Canterbury Tales: General Prologue. New York: Simon and Schuster 1954. Print. Harper, Douglas. Etymology Online Dictionary. http://etymonline.com/. 2013. Web 2 Oct. 2013. “The History of the English Language”. http://www.uni-due.de/SHE/. Univ. of Duisburg Essen. April 2013. Web 4 Oct. 2013.