The Scribal Transmission of Northern Dialect in the Reeve's Tale.
- Author / Editor
- Farrell, Thomas J.
The Scribal Transmission of Northern Dialect in the Reeve's Tale.
- Published
- Journal of the Early Book Society 25 (2022): 71-110
- Description
- Analyzes the textual record of RvT and identifies nineteen witnesses "committed to accurate transmission" of its northernisms whereas others translate northern dialect features or fail to recognize them (e.g., "sal" for "shall"). Discusses the "widely-discussed 'fading' of the northern dialect near the end of the tale," and shows that Oxford, Christ Church MS 152 "perfectly epitomizes the multiple processes" involved in the erosion of "Chaucer's original intention" regarding dialect in the Tale.
- Chaucer Subjects
- Reeve and His Tale
Language and Word Studies
Manuscripts and Textual Studies