The Vocabulary of Chaucer

By Colin FitzGerald
February 19, 2007
 The Making of a Vocabulary
What a vocabulary is and how it forms.
A vocabulary is a set of words known to a
specific person or entity and understood in a
particular language. (e.g. Chaucer and his
Middle English vocabulary)
A vocabulary forms over a persons lifespan.
Vocabularies, like people, evolve with time as
new words are born and old words die. Most
words however, simply change with the times.
 Lexicon and Syntax
What are lexical words and syntax?
Lexical words are the actual content words of
any given piece of writing and syntax pertains
to the way in which the lexical, and to some
extent, the function words are arranged.
Chaucers syntax is reflective of the general
changes in Middle English syntax. The loss of
grammatical gender and the deterioration of
inflectional endings were significant changes.
 Loan Words
What are loan words?
Loan words are words taken directly from
other languages and incorporated as such
into a particular language with little to no
translation during the borrowing process.
Chaucer borrowed thousands of words, most
of which coming from neighboring French and
other Romance (Italic) languages including
Spanish and Italian.
 Chaucers Vocabulary
How large was Chaucers vocabulary?
Many English scholars have estimated
Chaucers vocabulary to be around 12,000
words, or about one-third the size of
Shakespeares vocabulary.
In addition, statistics show that over 6200
words (52% of Chaucers 12,000 word
vocabulary) are considered borrowed from
Romance languages alone.
 Chaucers Vocabulary
Loan words in Chaucers vocabulary
In The Parsons Tale, Chaucer employs the
word fruyt (fruit), and in The Second Nuns
Tale, he uses the word peple (people). Both
words were borrowed from French.
Middle English saw a great deal of interaction
and mixing with French primarily as a result of
the Norman Invasion of England by William
the Conqueror in the year 1066.
 Chaucers Vocabulary
What is Middle English?
The term given by linguistics experts to the
diverse forms of the English language spoken
in England between the year 1066 and the
middle fifteenth century.
Unlike Old English, which tended to be
spoken rather than written, Middle English
benefited greatly from the advent of better
technologies including the printing press.
 Chaucers Vocabulary
How diverse was Chaucers vocabulary?
Chaucers vocabulary is considered by many
English scholars to be a mixed dialect, which
stemmed from the static Central Midlands
dialect and the dynamic London dialect.
The London dialect comprised the state of the
English language in London during the latter
half of the fourteenth century. It became the
version of English later used by Parliament.
 Chaucers Vocabulary
Effects of the Central Midlands dialect
From this dialect, Chaucer gained a slew of
loan words. The Scandinavian influences in
this region had a profound impact on his
vocabulary. (200+ words from Old Norse)
These Scandinavian lexical borrowings
became more commonplace in Chaucers
writing as his writing became more complex,
rhythmic, and systematized.
 Chaucers Vocabulary
Effects of variation in Chaucers English
In Chaucers poem entitled Troilus and
Criseyde, he states, And for ther is so gret
diversiteIn Englissh and in writyng of oure
tonge (Book V, lines 1793-4).
Chaucer was also known to spell the word
such at least five different ways(e.g.
swich, swech, soch, sych, & schch)
These variations surely constitute diversity!
 Chaucers Vocabulary
Effects of loan words in Chaucers English
Loan words, particularly French loan words,
were seen as being more elegant and
sophisticated than words taken from Old
English dialects; a stylistic presupposition.
This stylistic presupposition of Chaucers was
probably a result of the fact that he spoke and
wrote French while working as a squire in the
Courts of Kings Edward III and Richard II.
 Chaucers Vocabulary
Morphological effects in Chaucers English
Many words in Chaucers vocabulary contain
evidence of the relinquishment of numerous
grammatical inflections commonly associated
with Old English words.
This loss of grammatical inflections is
symbolic of the greater transition that
occurred between Old English and Middle
English over the course of just five centuries.
 Chaucers Vocabulary
Phonological effects in Chaucers English
Consonants in Chaucers vocabulary were
treated relatively the same way as they are in
Modern English. Consonant clusters however
were treated very differently.
Examples of such consonant clusters include
kn as in knyf, ng as in yonge, wh as in
whan, and gn as in gnoff. These words all
contain Chaucerian consonant clusters.
 Chaucers Vocabulary
Chaucer coined over 2000 words in the
English Language.
List of random nouns coined by Chaucer
Absence the state of being absent
Bribery the act of larceny or robbery
Cadence the rhythmic flow of sounds
Delicacy the quality of being delicate
Governance the action of governing
 Works Consulted
Burnley, David, A Guide to Chaucers Language
(Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1983).
Cannon, Christopher, The Making of Chaucers English:
A Study of Words (New York, NY: Cambridge University
Press, 1998).
Elliot, Ralph W.V., Chaucers English (London, UK:
Andre Deutsch, 1974).
Horobin, Simon, The Language of the Chaucer Tradition
(Cambridge, UK: D.S. Brewer, 2003).
Sandved, Arthur O., Introduction to Chaucerian English
(Cambridge, UK: D.S. Brewer, 1985).