The Play of Puns in Late Middle English Poetry: Concerning Juxtology

Author / Editor
Shoaf, R[ichard] A[llen].

Title
The Play of Puns in Late Middle English Poetry: Concerning Juxtology

Published
Jonathan Culler, ed. On Puns: The Foundation of Letters (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1988), pp. 44-61.

Description
Unpacks the meanings and implications of sample puns from Chaucer, Langland's "Piers Plowman," and "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight," suggesting that they evince a medieval respect for the transcendent potency of language. Chaucerian examples include "arten" (TC 1.388), "astoned" (FranT 5.1339), "Nowelis flood" (1.3818), and "cosyn" (GP 1.742).

Contributor
Culler, Jonathan, ed.

Alternative Title
On Puns: The Foundation of Letters .

Chaucer Subjects
Language and Word Studies
Style and Versification