Book of Middle English

THORLAC TURVILLE-PETRE is Emeritus Professor of Medieval English at the University of Nottingham, UK. He is the author of numerous books including The Alliterative Revival, England the Nation, and Description and Narrative in Middle English Alliterative Poetry. His Reading Middle English Literature is designed as a companion to this book. J. A. BURROW† was Emeritus Professor at Bristol University, UK, a Fellow of the British Academy and Honorary Director of the Early English Text Society. He was the author of many classic studies, including A Reading of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Medieval Writers and their Work, and The Ages of Man.

• List of Illustrations ixPreface to the Fourth Edition xiAbbreviations xiiiPart One1 Introducing Middle English 31.1 The Period 31.1.1 From Old to Middle English 31.1.2 From Middle to Modern English 41.2 Varieties of Middle English 51.2.1 Regional Dialects 51.2.2 Early and Late Middle English 81.2.3 Spelling 82 Pronouncing Middle English 92.1 Introduction 92.2 Vowels 102.2.1 The Long Vowels 102.2.2 The Short Vowels 112.2.3 Unstressed Final -e 112.2.4 The Diphthongs 122.3 Consonants 122.4 Stress 133 Vocabulary 143.1 Introduction 143.2 Scandinavian 143.3 English, French and Latin 153.4 Latin Loan-Words 173.5 French Loan-Words 184 Inflexions 194.1 Introduction 194.1.1 The Inflexional System 194.1.2 Loss of Inflexional Endings 194.2 Nouns 204.2.1 Introduction 204.2.2 Noun Inflexions: Early Southern Texts 214.2.3 Developments in Noun Inflexions 224.2.4 Genitive Singular Without Ending 234.2.5 Unchanged Plurals 234.2.6 Mutated Plurals 234.3 Pronouns and Articles 244.3.1 Forms of the Personal Pronouns 244.3.2 First and Second Person Pronouns 254.3.3 Third Person Pronouns: Masculine and Neuter Singular 254.3.4 Third Person Pronouns: Feminine Singular 254.3.5 Third Person Pronouns: Plural 264.3.6 The Definite Article 264.3.7 Demonstratives 274.3.8 The Indefinite Article 274.4 Adjectives and Adverbs 274.4.1 Definite and Indefinite Inflexions 274.4.2 Inflexions for Case 28 4.4.3 Comparison of Adjectives 294.4.4 Comparison of Adverbs 294.5 Verbs 304.5.1 Introduction 304.5.2 Present Tense 304.5.3 Past Tense and Past Participle 324.5.4 Past of Weak Verbs 324.5.5 The Verbs ‘Have’ and ‘Say’ 334.5.6 Past of Strong Verbs 344.5.7 Irregular Verbs 354.5.8 The Verb ‘To Be’ 365 Syntax 385.1 Gender 385.2 Number 385.3 Use of Cases 395.3.1 Nominative and Accusative 395.3.2 Genitive 395.3.3 Dative 405.4 Pronouns and Articles 415.4.1 Þou and ʒ e 415.4.2 Non-expression of Personal Pronouns 415.4.3 Man 42 5.4.4 Self 425.4.5 Reflexive Pronouns 435.4.6 Relative Pronouns 435.4.7 The Articles 445.5 Adjectives and Adverbs 445.5.1 Position 445.5.2 Comparatives and Superlatives 445.5.3 Adjectives as Nouns 455.6 Verbs 455.6.1 Use of Present Tense 455.6.2 Use of Past Tense 465.6.3 Auxiliaries of the Past 465.6.4 Auxiliaries of the Future: shall and will 475.6.5 The Infinitive 475.6.6 The Subjunctive 485.6.7 The Imperative 505.6.8 Impersonal Verbs 505.6.9 Verbs of Motion 515.6.10 The Passive 515.7 Negation 525.8 Questions 525.9 Word-Order 535.9.1 Inversion 535.9.2 The Object 545.9.3 Prepositions 545.9.4 Relative Clauses 545.9.5 Adverbial Phrases 545.9.6 Verb in Final Position 555.10 Recapitulation and Anticipation 556 Metre 566.1 Introduction 566.2 Rhymed Verse 566.3 Alliterative Verse 596.4 Laʒamon’s Brut 617 From Manuscript to Printed Text 628 Translating Middle English 658.1 Trevisa’s Dialogue 658.2 Words and Their Meanings 668.3 Dictionaries 678.4 False Friends 688.4.1 ‘lewd’ 688.4.2 ‘kind’ 708.4.3 Some Nouns and Verbs 718.5 Idioms 718.6 Translating Prose 718.7 Translating Verse 738.8 Translating Pearl 749 Select Bibliography 779.1 Bibliographies, Indexes, and Internet Resources 779.2 Language Studies 789.3 General Studies of the Literature 799.4 Studies of Particular Genres 819.5 Historical and Social Studies 82Part Two: Prose and Verse TextsNote on Treatment of Texts 861 The Peterborough Chronicle 1137 872 The Owl and the Nightingale 933 Laʒamon: Brut 1084 Ancrene Wisse 1185 Sir Orfeo 1246 The Cloud of Unknowing 1447 William Langland: Piers Plowman 1538 Patience 1749 Sir Gawain and the Green Knight 19410 Pearl 21411 St Erkenwald 23312 John Trevisa: Dialogue between a Lord and a Clerk 24713 John Gower: Confessio Amantis 25514 Lyrics 26715 The York Play of the Crucifixion 28416 Geoffrey Chaucer: The Parliament of Fowls 29517 Chaucer: Troilus and Criseyde 32118 Chaucer: The Canterbury Tales 33918a The Reeve’s Tale 34018b The Prioress’s Tale 35819 Julian of Norwich: Revelations of Divine Love 368Textual Notes 375Glossary 382