The Weak Declension of the Adjective and Its Importance in Chaucerian Metre
- Author / Editor
- Pearsall, Derek.
The Weak Declension of the Adjective and Its Importance in Chaucerian Metre
- Published
- Geoffrey Lester, ed. Chaucer in Perspective: Middle English Essays in Honour of Norman Blake (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1999), pp. 178-93.
- Description
- Examines the editorial implications of one metrically unambiguous feature of Chaucer's grammar. Chaucer's final -e has syllabic value when it occurs as the ending of monosyllabic adjectives with unelided weak inflexion followed by nouns with stress on the first syllable. As such, these words provide a "building block" for developing a clear understanding of Chaucer's meter, especially when we consider not only manuscripts and editions of Chaucer's works but also those of his imitators.
- Alternative Title
- Chaucer in Perspective: Middle English Essays in Honour of Norman Blake.
- Chaucer Subjects
- Style and Versification.
- Language and Word Studies.