CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION 1.1. Aim of the paper

2. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 2.1. The Modern English period

3. ANALYSIS 3.1. Geoffrey Chaucer and his contributions to English language and literature 3.2. Negation in Chaucers Prologue of The Canterbury Tales 3.2.1. Expletive negation 3.2.2. Multiple negation 3.2.2.1. Multiple negation with ne (not) 3.2.2.2. Multiple negation with nor/or (nor) 3.2.2.3. Multiple negation with never, no etc. 3.2.2.4. Multiple negation with more than one negatives

4. CONCLUSION 4.1. Conclusion based on the analysis conducted

5. BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1. Aim of the paper

The aim of this paper is to introduce and analyze some of the most prominent patterns of negation in the Prologue of Geoffrey Chaucers Canterbury Tales, which will be done taking into consideration the actual time the work was written and the common differences the language of this time, i.e. the Middle English, and the Contemporary English may have. In order to introduce the topic of the essay, its first part will focus on some basic information regarding the Middle English in general, as well as some basic information concerning Geoffrey Chaucer himself, with the emphasis on his contributions to the English language, as well as English literature. In other words, the first part will merely touch upon some important information that would be quite helpful for understanding the issue. The second part, however, is a more detailed analysis of the negation structures and patterns recognized in the Middle English of the aforementioned Chaucers Prologue. Most importantly, this part will focus on the multiple negation, a concept that is completely rejected and, if applied nowadays, considered a cardinal grammatical error. Finally, the essay will offer a certain conclusion that will be derived based on the entire analysis of the negation structures and patterns in the aforementioned work. The conclusion, however, will not be a mere summary of the previous findings, but it may also include the authors personal conclusion.

2. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

Many changes and transformations happened to English language over the centuries. When talking about development of English language, one usually has the three major periods in their mind; these are: Old English (1100 BC), Middle English (1100-1500 BC), and Modern English (1500 AC). On the "other hand, when referring to the Modern English period, the distinction can be made between Early Modern and Late Modern English period, with 1700 AC as the year dividing the two periods (Nevalainen, 2006: 1). However, it was not until the late Middle Ages when the process of language standardization in English began, with the expansion of the vernacular to many functions earlier occupied by either French or Latin. Therefore, it is not surprising that standardization of English did not reach its peak until 1800 (ibid.), which is why some authors choose this year to refer to the beginning of the Late Modern English period.

2.1. The Modern English period As it was already mentioned, the Early Modern English period saw the establishment of the standard written language. The establishment of the standard language was mostly influenced by the needs of bureaucracy, i.e. the needs to regularize procedures they follow in conducting its business (Algeo, 2010: 156). However, in order to establish a normative, standard, language that is to be used by the entire nation, a detailed research on the nature of the language, including its stages of development, has to be conducted; therefore, "the existence of a standard language and the study of that language go together". (ibid.) Logically, this was the period in which first English dictionaries appeared. The most important for the development of Modern English was the appearance of Samuel Johnsons twovolume Dictionary of English Language in 1755. "Syntactically, Early Modern English resembles Present-day English more than Middle English both in terms of phrase structure and word-order, " said Nevalainen (2006: 103). Nonetheless, one of the most prominent characteristics of the Modern English language is introduction of the auxiliary do into negative and interrogative clauses. For example, Chaucer would perceive a sentence like "For this ye knowen al so wel as I" perfectly correct, the Modern English would see it as an archaic form for "For this thing do you know as well as I". However, unlike Chaucer, Shakespeare would use either I
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know not or I do not know, which speaks in favor of the optional nature of the auxiliary do in the Middle English, as opposed to its obligatory nature in the Modern English. Moreover, some of the crucial syntactic contexts into which the auxiliary do was introduced was verb phrases containing the negator not or marking the negative polarity of the sentence by placing the negator not close to the auxiliary, but the most important change was the disappearance of multiple negations (e.g. You havent see nothing like it) from the standard varieties of English language (Nevalainen, 2006: 111). On the other hand, although demonstratives this/these and that/those did not change their functions to greater extent, quite a noticeable feature of the Modern English is the abolition of the demonstrative a demonstrative yon or yond(er), which meant remote from both speaker and hearer (Anglik.net, n .d.). In addition, quite interesting is the use of two similar pronouns: thou which, used for addressing someone by their first name, and you, related to addressing someone by their title and surname in order to show respect, both of which were completely ceased to be used in the Modern English. Some of these changes are shared by most varieties of the contemporary English language, while others have come to be associated with the rise of the standard language.

3. ANALYSIS

Geoffrey Chaucer was a prominent English poet and philosopher, best remembered for his famous work The Canterbury Tales, "one of the greatest epic works of world literature" (Luikkonen, 2008). The exact date of his birth is not known, but the year 1345 was accepted as his birth year. It is, however, established that he was born in his fathers house in London (Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2011). He spent most of his life working as a page (servant to a knight), until he was finally promoted to a squire, a position between a page and a knight, in 1368 (ibid.).

3.1. Geoffrey Chaucer and his contributions to English language and literature Although there are merely few details of Chaucers early life, there are extensive research on his late life as a distinguished author and an important social persona. His career started in 1369, when he was asked to compose a memorial poem for Dukes deceased wife, The Book of the Dutches, after which,
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given a quite good salary, he was sent abroad, on various diplomatic missions, which is where he produced various short poems and the tragedy Troilus and Criseyde, only few years before his capital work The Canterbury Tales was published (ibid.). Not surprisingly then, Chaucer became one of the most prominent authors of the world literature. One of the most important things he was familiar for was his distinctive style, which was a result of merged influences of various widely recognized works of world literature, such as Boccaccios Decamerone or Dantes Divine Comedy, all spiced up with his personal innovations in literature (Luikkonen, 2008). His contributions to versification, content and form of English poetry was what gave him name on the international literary scene. Besides for being praised for the aforementioned work, however, Chaucer is said to be a crucial name to mention in terms of the development of English language. Namely, he did not only choose one of the four most favorable dialects, but he also used the language as a mixture of French, Latin and the most despicable, English language. Although he followed patterns characteristic of the Middle English language usage, he was also originator of various English words, some of which are used even today, words such as accident, horizon, increase, infect, obscure, observe, vacation, wildness etc. (Ntlworld.com,n.d. ). Since most of them were influenced by Latin, French and Arabic, it does not mean that he invented these words, but only that he was first to use them in English language.

3.2. Negation in Chaucers Prologue The focus of the following is to demonstrate the use of expletive and multiple negation in terms of the Chaucers Prologue to The Canterbury Tales.

3.2.1. Expletive negation Expletive or paratactic negation is negation in which "the negative is a sign that the subordinate clause is in a way an independent clause, which expresses the actual content of the prohibition, doubt, fear, etc. referred to by governing predicate." (Tieken-Boon van Ostade et.al, 1998: 307) There are various examples of using expletive negation in Chaucers Prologue; one of them is below.

"He yaf nat of that text a pulled hen, That seith that hunters ben nat hooly men, Ne that a monk, whan he is recchelees, Is likned til a fissh that is waterlees;"

3.2.2. Multiple negation One of the most noticeable differences between language use of the Middle English and the use of Modern English is the decline of multiple negation. This was a feature primarily influenced by the language standardization process, which marked the multiple negation as non-standard in the use of English language; this, however, does not mean that it ceased to be used in non-standard varieties. (Iyeiri, 2005: 83) More precisely, multiple negation includes various types of clauses, with more than one negative, such as negation with the adverb ne (not), negation with the negative conjunction ne/nor (nor) and multiple negation where never, no, nowhere are repeated or occur with not. (Tieken-Boon van Ostade et.al, 1998: 126) 3.2.2.1. Multiple negation with ne (not) In the Middle English, the adverb ne is used in places where not would be used in the Modern English:

She leet no morsel from hir lippes falle, Ne wette hir fyngres in hir sauce depe; Wel koude she carie a morsel and wel kepe That no drope ne fille upon hire brest.

3.2.2.2. Multiple negation with nor/or (nor) The use of multiple negation with nor/or is one of the most notable features of the Middle English. The examples below will show, however, that most often, or is used instead of nor nor and nor is replaced with ne. "He sette nat his benefice to hyre And leet his sheep encombred in the myre
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And ran to londoun unto seinte poules To seken hym a chaunterie for soules, Or with a bretherhed to been withholde; "

"For frenssh of parys was to hire unknowe. At mete wel ytaught was she with alle: She leet no morsel from hir lippes falle, Ne wette hir fyngres in hir sauce depe; ."

"He waited after no pompe and reverence, Ne maked him a spiced conscience "

3.2.2.3. Multiple negation with never, no etc.

Unlike in the Modern English in which the verb inversion is obligatory if never and no are in the initial position, the Middle English includes the following constructions. While the multiple negation is dismissed, it can be noticed that the inversion is retained in the Modern English as well.

"He nevere yet no vileynye ne sayde In al his lyf unto no maner wight. "

No berd hadde he, ne nevere sholde have; As smothe it was as it were late shave.

3.2.2.4. Multiple negation with more than one negatives Not only that the Middle English perceives double negation as instance of correct language use but it also allows using triple, quadruple etc. negations, as the following examples show: "He nevere yet no vileynye ne sayde In al his lyf unto no maner wight."

"His breed, his ale, was alweys after oon; A bettre envyned man was nowher noon. "

4. CONCLUSION

4.1. Conclusion based on the analysis conducted As it was previously said, the aim of this essay was to introduce and analyze most prominent features of the Middle English recognized in Chaucers Prologue to The Canterbury Tales. Following this goal, the aforesaid provided a brief analysis of the most important patterns when it comes to negation in the work, i.e. negation with the adverb ne (not), negation with the negative conjunction ne/nor (nor) and multiple negation where never, no, nowhere are repeated or occur with not; on the other hand, some examples of multiple negation with more than two negatives have been provided. The main purpose of the essay, however, was to be able to compare and contrast the two instances of language use, the Middle English and Modern English, showing how the former was applied on the example of the aforementioned work. This suggests that various proves that Chaucer followed patterns of the language structure of his own time were provided and these examples not only serve as a prove for its use but they also contribute to the stylistics of the work, for the work may not be as tangible as it is, had it not been written in the Middle English Chaucerian manner. On the other hand, although focused primarily on language and its structures, the essay also added up to the fact that the Middle English helped Geoffrey Chaucer to mold The Canterbury Tales into such a master piece. In other words, besides its main goal to provide examples for various structures, once more, this essay proved the ways in which we use language reflect and condition our reality.
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5. BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Algeo, N. (2010). The Origins and Development of the English Language. [online] 6th ed. Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. Retrieved on February 13, 2011

2. Anglik.net (n.d.). A Brief History of the English Language. [online] Available at < http://anglik.net/englishlanguagehistory.htm > [February 13, 2011]

3. Encyclopedia of World Biography (2011). Geoffrey Chaucer. [online] Available at < http://www.notablebiographies.com/Ch-Co/Chaucer-Geoffrey.html > [February 16, 2011]

4. Iyeiri, Y. (2005). Aspects of English Negation.[online] 1st ed. Philadelphia: John Benjamins B.V./ Yushodo Press. Retreived on February 16, 2011 http://books.google.com/books?id=aVb40CwAoK0C&printsec=frontcover&dq=aspect+of+negation+i n+english&hl=hr&ei=8EdhTYi3GIGe4AbF6qXUCQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1& ved=0CCcQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=aspect%20of%20negation%20in%20english&f=false

5. Luikkonen, P. (2008). Geoffrey Chaucer (1342/43-1400. [online] Available at < http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/chaucer.htm > [February 17, 2011]

6. Nevalainen, T. (2006). An Introduction to Early Modern English. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Retrieved on February 13, 2011 http://books.google.ba/books?id=znFmBZ2D8rEC&pg=PA160&lpg=PA160&dq=double+negatives+in +chaucers+prologue&source=bl&ots=GU-RUpMbb2&sig=K30zj5YVgSi32vD5Jpzub9pDeU&hl=hr&ei=l0RhTar_FIyp8AO_9q1a&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved= 0CEsQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q&f=false
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7. Ntlworld.com (n.d.). Chaucers Words. [online] Available at < http://homepage.ntlworld.com/vivian.c/Words/Chaucersnewwords.htm > [February 13, 2011]

8. Tieken-Boon van Ostade, I., G. Tottie and W. van der Wurff (1998). Negation in the History of English. 1st ed. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. Retrieved on February 17, 2011 http://books.google.com/books?id=48jApMizYAkC&printsec=frontcover&hl=hr&source=gbs_ge_sum mary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false