Middle EnglishChaucer’s Language

Spelling

• There was no one way to spell a word, unlike today’s language.

• All of Chaucer’s letters are pronounced (no silent letters)

• Consonant letters will not be as problematic as vowels

• Many contemporaries believed that Chaucer was a poor rhymester

Iambic Pentameter

• All of Chaucer’s poems are written in iambic pentameter

• 5 feet on a line (unstress/stress=1 foot)• Rhyme scheme (abab, cdcd, efef, gg)

Chaucer’s Consonants

• We must pronounce the letters k, g, l, r though in today’s language those letters may be silent

• Try say to say and decipher the word below:

KNOKKE

Chaucer’s Vowels

• There are more than one pronunciation of the vowels e, i, and o

• Many of Chaucer’s vowels are diphthongs (gliding vowel sounds to blend into one)

*Note: ou is not a diphthong as it is todayEx. Today’s word- HOUSE would actually rhyme

with GOOSE in Middle EnglishHOOSE?????-Yep! That’s it!!!

Vowels A and E

• a, aa= “ah”-April (today’s English) =Ahpril (Middle English)

• ai, ay and ei, ey= “ah-ee” as in aisleMAYDE????

• e, ee= “a, at”-Math (today’s English)GREET????

• e= “uh”-sofa (often found at the end of iambic pentameter line but not pronounced)

Vowel I and O

• i,y = “ee”-sheet (today’s English) and “short i”-him

NYNE???? RIDEN???

• oi, oy=“oh-ee”-boy (today’s English)-has not changed

OISTRE???

Vowel O (con’t)

• o, oo= “aw”-claw (today’s English) and pronounced the same way in today’s English

HOOLY???FREDOM???

• o,oo= “oh”-most (today’s English) and foodBLOOD???

• ou, ow= “oo” and “uh”-crawl (today’s English)KNOWEN??? and SOULE???

VOWEL U

• u= pronounced the same way we use todayMUCHEL????

READY? LET’S HAVE FUN…

TASK 1

• In your groups and using the rules (pgs. xxxiii-xl) translate the following lines:

“He was a verray, parfit, gentil knight.But for to tellen yow of his array, His hors were gode, but he was nat gay.”

Task 2

• Which vowels did you find difficult to translate?

• Which line was most difficult?• Were you able to read the lines with ease?

Task 3

• Translate the following lines

“Short was his goune, with sleves longe and wyde.

Wel coude he sitte on hors, and raire ryde.He coude songes make and wel endyte