Linguistic Features of Some Fifteenth-Century Middle English Manuscripts

Author / Editor
Smith, Jeremy J.

Title
Linguistic Features of Some Fifteenth-Century Middle English Manuscripts

Published
Derek Pearsall, ed. Manuscripts and Readers in Fifteenth-Century England: The Literary Implications of Manuscript Study (Cambridge: D. S. Brewer, 1983), pp. 104-12.

Description
Demonstrates how specific linguistic features can be used to disclose "scribal attitudes to the text being copied," using as a primary example a number of linguistic forms from "one of the most notorious manuscripts" of CT, British Library MS Harley 7334, unusual for its wide distribution of forms. Also focuses on Scribe D and the strong dialectical features of many CT manuscripts.

Alternative Title
Manuscripts and Readers in Fifteenth-Century England: The Literary Implications of Manuscript Study

Chaucer Subjects
Manuscripts and Textual Studies
Language and Word Studies