Chaucer and the Development of the Modal Auxiliary Ought in Late Middle English

Author / Editor
Tajima, Matsuji.

Title
Chaucer and the Development of the Modal Auxiliary Ought in Late Middle English

Published
Robert Boenig and Kathleen Davis, eds. Manuscript, Narrative, Lexicon: Essays on Literary and Cultural Transmission in Honor of Whitney F. Bolton (Lewisburg, Penn: Bucknell University Press; and London: Associated University Presses, 2000), pp. 195-217.

Description
Tabulates late-medieval uses of ought (owe) as a past form and as a modal auxiliary and explores the forms of infinitives used after ought. Compares Chaucer's uses with those of other late-medieval writers to show that his uses reflect the "unsettled but actual use of his time," which was not unlike that of modern English.

Alternative Title
Manuscript, Narrative, Lexicon: Essays on Literary and Cultural Transmission in Honor of Whitney F. Bolton.

Chaucer Subjects
Language and Word Studies.