The Characteristics of Chaucer's Syntax As Observed from the Rime Words

押韻語より見たるチョーサー統語法の特徴

Masui Michio

廣島大學文學部紀要

The Hiroshima University studies, Literature Department

The object of the present study is to observe, describe and interpret some syntactical facts of Chaucer from the viewpoint of the rime words. First Chaucer's way of riming is described according to the classification of grammar, i.e. nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and so forth. And then come observations on the characteristics of the poet's syntax proper. As my observation in the present paper will clearly show, set phrases and expressions have a tendency to occur at the end of the verse. This, I think, is worth mentioning, since it suggests some possible correlation between the syntax of the poet and the requirement of the rime. I suppose that the wide prevalence of the so-called riming-tags in M.E. poetry has something to do with this tendency. If further supposition is permitted, the poet perhaps made use of conventional phrases quite as readily as if to save himself unnecessary trouble for the rime. Observations on these points have been made in the present study.

English [ 830 ]

English and American literature [ 930 ]

eng

廣島大學文學部

[ISSN] 0437-5564

[NCID] AN00213701