Chaucer s Canterbury Tales Features Of Grammar - 851 Words

Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales demonstrates features of grammar, phonology and etymology and how these features have changed or not changed as the language has evolved. The patterns of commonalities in grammar can be described as similarities or dissimilarities in sentence structure. The models of phonology are places where sounds remain the same up through Modern English. The examples of etymology are when the origin among words can be connected to the words Modern definition. There are also examples of words whose etymology remains the same, but the definition has changed. There are relationships between Middle English and Modern English grammar. These are cohesive structures; the ways that sentences are built; the noun, verb, etc order. There are many cases of shared features in grammar as demonstrated in the lines listed. 1 Whan that Aprill, with his shoures soote - When in April the sweet showers fall Upon first reading, the masculine seems to refer to the â€Å"shoures soote† so that must be something belonging to an unknown him. In most languages descendent from Latin a modifier comes after its subject. Since Latin was still very influential in Chaucer’s time, it’s reasonable to assume that’s why this subject and modifier are in this order. 16 Of Engelond, to Caunterbury they wende, - Of England they to Canterbury went, Did Chaucer mean to indicate these are people of England or are they going from England? To say the sentence â€Å"From England...† makes it moreShow MoreRelated The Tale of Youth1709 Words   |  7 PagesThe Tale of Youth Chaucer’s Squire’s tale has often been disregarded by critics as fragmentary, incoherent, and â€Å"a rambling narrative.† (Lawton 106) These characteristics shed a malevolent light on the tale, and raise questions on the unfinished status in the Canterbury Tales. The argument presents itself due to the interruption of the narrative by the Franklin leaving it without the ending, which has been foreshadowed earlier in the tale. The answer to this enigma is â€Å"pure speculation.† (Lawton