Etymological study on
Chaucer’s The Knight’s
Portrait and The Squier’s
Portrait.
* Team 2
Emma Esteve Royo; Raquel Peris Gil; Cristina
Reche Carpio.
0.Chaucer’s The Knight’s Portrait and fragment of The
Squire’s Portrait.
And whiche they weren, and of what degree,
And eek in what array that they were inne;
And at a knyght than wol I first bigynne.
A KNYGHT ther was, and that a worthy man,
That fro the tyme that he first bigan
To riden out, he loved chivalrie,
Trouthe and honour, fredom and curteisie.
Ful worthy was he in his lordes werre,
And therto hadde he riden, no man ferre,
As wel in cristendom as in hethenesse,
And evere honoured for his worthynesse;
At Alisaundre he was whan it was wonne.
Ful ofte tyme he hadde the bord bigonne
Aboven alle nacions in Pruce;
In Lettow hadde he reysed and in Ruce,
No Cristen man so ofte of his degree.
In Gernade at the seege eek hadde he be
Of Algezir, and riden in Belmarye.
No Cristen man so ofte of his degree.
In Gernade at the seege eek hadde he be
Of Algezir, and riden in Belmarye.
At Lyeys was he and at Satalye,
Whan they were wonne, and in the Grete See
At many a noble armee hadde he be.
At mortal batailles hadde he been fiftene,
And foughten for oure feith at Tramyssene
In lystes thries, and ay slayn his foo.
This ilke worthy knyght hadde been also
Somtyme with the lord of Palatye
Agayn another hethen in Turkye;
And everemoore he hadde a sovereyn prys.
And though that he were worthy, he was wys,
And of his port as meeke as is a mayde.
He nevere yet no vileynye ne sayde
In al his lyf unto no maner wight.
He was a verray, parfit gentil knyght.
But for to tellen yow of his array,
His hors were goode, but he was nat gay.
Of fustian he wered a gypon
Al bismotered with his habergeon,
2
For he was late ycome from his viage,
And wente for to doon his pilgrymage.
With hym ther was his sone, a yong SQUIER,
A lovyere and a lusty bacheler,
With lokkes crulle as they were leyd in presse.
Of twenty yeer of age he was, I gesse.
Of his stature he was of evene lengthe,
And wonderly delyvere, and of greet strengthe.
And he hadde been somtyme in chyvachie
In Flaundres, in Artoys, and Pycardie,
And born hym weel, as of so litel space,
In hope to stonden in his lady grace.
Embrouded was he, as it were a meede
Al ful of fresshe floures, whyte and reede
3
1. Modern
English translation of the text.
And which they were, and of what degree,
And also in what array they were in;
And with a knight that I desired to begin first.
There was a knight and that worthy man,
That from the time that he began first
to go campaigning, he loved knights,
Loyalty and honor, freedom and courtesy.
He was fully worthy as his lords were,
And moreover he had ridden, no man farther,
As happiness in Christendom as in heathendom,
And every honored for his worthiness;
At Alexandria he was when it was dwelt.
Very often he had sat in the place of honor
Above all nations in Prussia;
In Latvia he had raised and in Russia,
No Christian man gentle of his class.
In Granada at the siege he also had been
In Algeciras, and ridden in Belmarie.
He was at Ayas and at Antalya 1,
When they lived, and in the Mediterranean2
At a noble military expedition he had been.
At fifteen mortal battles he had been,
And fought for our faith and Tlemcen3
In pleases of three, and always slain his enemy.
This same worthy knight had been also
1
According to what is said in http://hompi.sogang.ac.kr/anthony/Chaucer/GenProlNotes.htm (visited
26th March, 2009) Lyeys-nowadays Ayas- is a port in Lesser Armenia. The second territory name found
on line 58 is Satalye, which is situated in Antalya (Turkey).
2
Mediterranean Sea was also known as Great Sea. In fact, Chaucer refers to it in the above presented
fragment as Greet Sea.
3
Nowadays , it is a town in Northwestern Algeria. Resource:
http://pages.towson.edu/duncan/chaucer/gpopening1.htm (visited 26th March, 2009).
4
Sometimes with the lord of Balat4
Again another heathen in Turkey;
And evermore he had a sovereign prize.
And though he was worthy, he was wise,
And as humble as a maid he is in manner.
He never yet had any vileness said,
In all his life, to whatsoever wight.
He was a truly perfect, gentle knight.
But now, to tell you all of his array,
His steeds were good, but yet he was not gay.
He wore a coarse tunic
Stained by his mail coat
For him, it was late to come back from his voyage,
And he went to do his pilgrimage.
With him, there was his son, a young knight
A lovely and joyful bachelor,
With curly locks as if they were laid in peach.
He was twenty years old, I guess.
By his stature, he was of medium height,
Wonderful agile, and of great strength.
And he sometimes had been in mounted expeditions
In Flandes, in Artois, and in Picardy,
And born well, for such a short time.
In hope to stand his lady’s grace
He was embroidered, as it was a meadow
All full of fresh flowers, white and red.
4
Palatye is a town in Turkey known as Balat.
http://pages.towson.edu/duncan/chaucer/gpopening1.htm (visited 26th March, 2009).
5
2. Etymological study on the words.
A: indefinite article, c.1150, a variation of O.E. an in which the -n- began to
disappear before consonants, a process mostly complete by 1340. The -n- also
was retained before words beginning with a sounded -h- until c.1600; it still is
retained by many writers before unaccented syllables in h- or (e)u-, but is now
no longer normally spoken as such. The -n- also lingered (especially in southern
England dialect) before -w- and -y- through 15c. The definition in Modern
English is a/an.
Aboven: Old English abufan, from on "on" + bufan "over," compound of be "by" +
ufan "over/high," from Proto Germanic *ufan-, *uban-. Meaning "in addition"
first recorded 1596. Aboveboard (1616) was originally a gambling term, "A
figurative expression borrowed from gamesters, who, when they put their
hands under the table, are changing their cards." [Johnson] The definition in
Modern English is above.
Again: different from the sense we have in Present Day English of this word, it
comes from Old English ongean, meaning “toward, opposite, against”. The Old
English term is the combination of on+-gegn. Norse influence is responsible for
the hard -g-. Differentiated from against term in the 16th century, in southern
writers, again becoming an adverb only, and against took over as preposition
and conjunction.
Age: word from 1297 meaning "long but indefinite period in human history,"
from Vulgar Latin *ætaticum and from Spanish edad. The meaning "time
something has lived, particular length or stage of life" is from around 1315.
Used especially for "old age" since 1330. Expelled native eld.
Algezir: the current name of this term, now known as Algeciras, seems to come
from the Arab occupation of the Iberian Peninsula: Al-Caetaria (with the Arab
article added to the name of the preexisting Roman town) or AlJazīra AlKhadrā'
Arabic ‫ ال خ ضراء ال جزي رة‬or Green Island.5
5
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algezir (visited 5th May, 2009)
6
Alisaundre: The name in English is taken from the Greek name Ἀλέξανδρος
(Alexandros). Etymologically, the name is a compound of the Greek verb ἀλέξω
(alexō) "to push back","to hold off" and the noun ἀνδρός (andros), genitive of
ἀνήρ (anēr) "man". Thus it may be roughly translated as the man who was
unbeatable. The definition in Modern English is Alexandria, because we are
referring to the land.6
Alle: O.E. eall "all, every, entire", from P.Gmc. *alnaz (cf. O.Fris., O.H.G. al, O.N.
allr, Goth. alls), with no certain connection outside Gmc. All-fired (1837) is U.S.
slang euphemism for hell-fired. First record of all out "to one's full powers" is
1880. At all (c.1350) was formerly only in the affirmative, recently usually
negative except in literary attempts at Irish dialect. All-star (adj.) is from 1889;
all-American is from 1888, with reference to baseball teams composed of the
best players from the U.S. All-terrain vehicle first recorded 1970. All clear as a
signal of "no danger" is recorded from 1902. All right, indicative of approval, is
attested from 1953. The definition in Modern English is all.
Also: from Old English eallswa, “exactly so”. Its structure is the result of all + so
combination. During the 12th century, it shifted to a new demonstrative sense:
"similarly" weakened to "in addition to", replacing eke.
And: from Old English forms and or ond; meaning “thereupon” and “next”. There is
also a Proto-Germanic form: unda. Furthermore, this conjunction is cognate with Latin
and Greek form ante, anti, correspondently. Modern English sense of the word is that of
“connection or addition”.
Another: from Old English oþer: “a second of two”.
Armee: an Old French form dating circa 1386, armée; concept coming, at the
same time form Middle Latin word armata: "armed force". Originally, it was
used for expeditions on sea or land and denoted "land force", sense firstly
recorded 1786.
6
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alisaundre (visited 5th May, 2009)
7
Array: 1297, from Old French areer "to put in order", from V.L. *ar-redare, from
Latin ad- "to" + Frank. *ræd- "ready" (cognate with Goth. garadis, Old English
geræde "ready"). The definition in Modern English is “array, to arrange a group of
soldiers in a position for fighting”.
As: from 1175, worn-down form of Old English alswa meaning "quite so”. It is
equivalent to so; any distinction in use is purely idiomatic. Related to German
als "as, than”.
At: From Old English æt, a common form of Proto-Germanic. It also derives from
Proto-Indo-European form ad, meaning “to”, “near” or “at”. In terms of semantics, the
very first meaning coming to our minds is that of preposition. Nonetheless, as
consulted in etymonline website, throughout some linguistic changes such as
nominalization, we may find the following terms: at-home (noun), meaning “reception
of visitors” or at-bat, which is “the turn at the plate of a baseball player”.
Ay: term from Old Norse concept ei, meaning "always, ever”. It is cognate with
Old English a "always, ever". In the case of the text, Chaucer makes reference to
each one of the times the knight fought, he slain his enemies.
Bacheler: from 1297, "youthful knight, novice in arms," from Old French bacheler
"knight bachelor," a young squire in training for knighthood, probably from
Middle Latin baccalarius "vassal farmer," one who helps or tends a baccalaria
"section of land”. Its meaning evolved in 14century from "knight in training"
to "junior member of a guild or university" and it to "unmarried man" (1386).
Bataille: Again, we come across a French borrowing dating from 1297 and
deriving from Late Latin battualia: “exercise of soldiers and gladiators in
fighting and fencing”. Later derivational semantic innovations were
introduced during the 17th century. One instance is battle royal: “fight involving
several combatants”.
Be: deriving from Old English beon, beom, bion ; denoting main senses of "be,
exist, come to be, become”. Based on Proto-Germanic forms *beo-, *beu-.It is the
most irregular verb in Modern English and the most common. It has eight
8
different forms in Modern English; one of them BE regarding three functional
possibilities: infinitive, subjunctive or imperative.
Been: consulting the above explained term be, been is one of the eight Modern
English forms of verb to be we just mentioned. In this case, been represents the
perfect participle.
Belmarye: The name Bellmare is derived from the Latin "bellum" for "beautiful"
(even though in Latin bellum means war. Beautiful is pulcher) and "mare" for
"marine". The definition in Modern English is Belmarie.
Bigynne: from Old Eenglish beginnan, also onginnan (class III strong verb; past
tense ongann, pp. ongunnen), from bi- "be" + West Germanic *ginnan, of
obscure meaning, found only in compounds, perhaps "to open, open up" (cf.
O.H.G. in-ginnan "to cut open, open up," also "begin, undertake"). Meaning
"beginner, novice" is from 1470. We can also see in the text the forms bigan,
bigonne. The definition of this term is “begin, to start to be, do, etc”.
Bismotered: from Germanic in 1668, “wissmuth” (1629), of unknown origin
meaning “stained”.
Bord: circa 1350, from Oold French bordure it means "seam, edge, border," from
Frankish *bord (cf. O.E. bord "side"), from Proto Germanic *bordus "edge," from
*borthaz. The geopolitical sense first attested 1535, in Scottish (replacing earlier
march), from The Borders, district adjoining the boundary between England
and Scotland.
Born: from Old English term boren; a past participle form of beran from verb
bear; a verb from PIE root *bher- meaning both "give birth". The distinction
between born and borne is a 17th century characteristic.
But: despite the fact it was not used as a conjunction during Old English, there
are some sense interesting to analyze and notice the later connections with
modern meaning (conjunction): "unless, without, outside".
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Chyvalchie: word from 1546 from Middle French cavalerie, and from Italian
cavalleria "mounted militia," from cavaliere.
Chivalrie: 1292, from Old French chevalerie it means "horsemanship," from
chevaler "knight," from M.L. caballarius "horseman," from Latin caballus. From
"mounted knight," meaning stretched 14c. to "courtly behavior." Nowadays we
refer to this term as “knight, a man of high social position trained to fight as a soldier
on a horse”.
Come: from Old English “cuman” "come" (class IV strong verb; past tense cuom,
com, pp. cumen). In Proto-Germanic we find *”kwem-“. It has a Proto Indo
European base *gwem- "to go, come". Substitution of -o- for -u- is scribal change
before minims, as in “monk, some, worm”, originary “munuc, sum, wyrm”. The
past tense form is probably from Old Norse “kvam”, replacing Old English
“cuom”. Amazingly productive with prepositions; consider the varied senses in
come to "regain consciousness," come over "possess" (as an emotion), come at
"attack," and come off "occur."
Cristen: from Old English cristen, from Latin Christianus, from Greek christianos,
from Christos. First used in Antioch, according to Acts xi.25-26. Christianity "the
religion of Christ", is from c.1303. Christian Science is from 1863. Nowadays
the definition follows the original “Christian, someone who believes in and follows
the teachings of Jesus Christ”.
Crulle: nowadays means “a lock of hair of a spiral or convolute form”. We
have not fins the etymology of that word.
Curteisie: circa 1225, it comes from Old French curtesie, from curteis "courteous",
from curt "court". A specialized sense of curtesie is the source of English
“curtsy” (1575, "bending the knee and lowering the body as a gesture of
respect," a 16c. variant of courtesy). The definition in Modern English is
“courtesy, a polite behaviour, or a polite action or remark”.
Degree: circa1230, from Old French degre "a degree, step, rank", from Latin de"down" + gradus "step". Most modern senses date from Middle English, from
notion of a hierarchy of steps. Meaning "a grade of crime" is 1676; that of "a unit
10
of temperature" is from 1727. The division of the circle into 360 degrees is very
ancient and was known in Babylon and Egypt. It is perhaps from the daily
motion of the sun through the zodiac in the course of a year. Here, in that
particular case, the definition of this term in Modern English is “degree”
meaning “rank”.
Delyvere: around 1225, from Old French delivrer, from Late Latin deliberare, de"away" + liberare "to free". Sense of "hand over" is from 1280, which brings it in
opposition to its root.
Do: from Middle English “don” meaning "make, act, perform, cause. Slang
meaning "to do the sex act with or to" is from 1913. Third person does was a
Northumbrian variant in O.E. that displaced doth, doeth 16c.-17c. The pt. did is
Old English dyde, the only remainder in Germanic. of the old linguistic pattern
of forming a pt. by reduplication of the stem of the present tense. Far back in
Gmc. the equivalent of did was used as a suffix to make the past tenses of other
verbs, hence the English -ed suffix (Old English form -de). The pp. done grew
out of Old English past participle form gedon, but the only vestige of the prefix
is in ado. Use as an auxiliary began in M.E. Periphrastic form in negative
sentences ("They did not think") replaced the O.E. negative particles ("Hie ne
wendon"). U.S. Southern use of done in phrases like "he done gone to the
store" is attested from 1827, according to Oxford English Dictionary on line: "a
perfective auxiliary or with adverbial force in the sense 'already; completely".
Slang done for "doomed" is from 1842. Doable has been around since 1449.
Expression do or die is attested from 1621. Contraction don't for do not is first
recorded 1672.
Evere: from Old English æfre ælc "each of a group", lit. "ever each" with ever
added for emphasis, as the word is still felt to need emphasis (Modern English
every last ..., every single ..., etc.). Nowadays the definition of Modern English
is “every, used when referring to all the members of a group”.
Everemoore: from Old English æfre ma. As in the above mentioned term, this word
is the result of two different concepts: ever and more. Firstly, ever comes from
Old English term æfre, which might be a contraction of a in feore, meaning “ever
in life”. Secondly, more comes from Old English term mara; “greater, more”.
Deriving from Proto-Germanic * maizon and Proto-Indo-European *meis. Old
English used related ma (more) as an adverb and noun from Proto-Germanic
*mais.
11
Feith: c.1250, "duty of fulfilling one's trust," from O.Fr. feid, from L. fides "trust,
belief," from root of fidere "to trust," from PIE base *bhidh-/*bhoidh- (cf. Gk. pistis;
see bid). For sense evolution, see belief. Theological sense is from 1382; religions
called faiths since c.1300. Faith-healer is from 1885.
Ferre: circa 1300, it is a variant of further. By 17c. it was replaced by ferrer as
compound of the descendant of Old English fierr "far" (itself a compound but no
longer felt as one). We see the vowel change influence by the root vowel, and
confusion with Middle English ferþeren "to assist, promote, advance". There is
no historical basis for the notion that farther is of physical distance and further
of degree or quality. Nowadays, the Modern English definition is “further, to a
greater distance”.
Fiftene: From Old English concept fiftyne (“fifteen”), this word shows the
composition of two words: fif (“five”) plus tyne (“ten”).
First: from Old English fyrst "foremost," superl. of fore, from Proto Germanic
*furisto (cf. Old High Germanic furist, Old Norse fyrstr, Danish første, Old Frisian
fersta, Germanic Fürst "prince"), superlative of *fur-/*for-, from PIE *pro- (cf.
Skt. pura "before, formerly," English fore). The Modern English definition of this
term is “first, coming before all others in order, time, amount, quality or importance”.
For: from Old English meaning "for, before, on account of," from Proto
Germanic *”fura” "for, before". It is a common prefix in Old English. It could be
intensive, destructive, or perfective. Its use alone as a conjunction cannot be
found before 12 century, it is probably a shortening of common Old English
phrases such as for þon þy "therefore".
Freedom: Old English freodom. Freedom-rider recorded 1961, in reference to civil
rights activists in U.S. trying to integrate bus lines. The most recent definition of
this term in this case refers to “freedom, a right to act in the way you think you should”.
Fresshe: it is derived from 13th century metathesis process of Old English term
fersc; meaning “unsalted”. It also derives from West-Germanic *friskaz, which
was probably cognate with Old Church Slavonic term presinu, meaning “fresh”;
or Lithuanian concept preskas; meaning “sweet”. The metathesis, and the
12
expanded Middle English senses of "new, pure, eager" are probably by
influence of Old French fres (fem. fresche) or from Proto-Germanic *frisko-.
From: related to Old English “fram”, originally "forward movement,
advancement”, and “evolving into sense of” movement away". Deriving from
Proto Germanic *fr- and Old Norse “fra” meaning “from”.
Foo: from Old English term gefa, “adversary in deadly feud”. Its origins
probably are found on Proto-Indo-European base *peik-, which entails the sense
of “evil-minded”, “treacherous” or “hostile”. Real sense Chaucer gives to the
word – “adversary”- was first recorded in 1607.
Foughten: from Old English feohtan: "to fight" (class III strong verb; past tense
feaht, past participle fohten), also from Proto-Germanic term *fekhtanan;
apparently with a notion of "pulling roughly". The spelling convention of -ghfor a "hard H" sound was a Middle English scribal habit, especially before -t-.
Ful: from Old English full; meaning “completely” or “full”. Deriving from
Proto-Germanic term *fullaz and from Proto-Indo-European *ple-. It has also an
adverbial sense which was common in Middle English (full well, full many,
etc.). Full moon was Old English fulles monan; first record of full-blood in
relation to racial purity is from 1812. Full house is 1710 in the theatrical sense,
1887 in the poker sense.
Fustian: word registered circa 1200 from Old French “fustaigne”, Middle Latin
“fustaneum”. It meant "thick cotton cloth” probably from Latin “fustis”, "staff,
stick of wood,". It was probably a loan-translation of Greek “xylina lina”
meaning "linens of wood".
Gay: from Old French term gai; “gay, merry”; dating from the 12th century. In
other words, full of joy or mirth. During 14th century adopted new meaning:
brilliant or showy.
Gentil: (circa 1225) from Old French term gentil; meaning “nice, graceful,
pleasing”.
13
Gesse: from around 1303, gessen "to estimate, appraise," originally "take aim,"
probably from Scandinavian, exactly from middle Danish gitse, getze "to guess,"
and Old Norse geta "guess, get", possibly influenced by Middle Dutch gessen "to
guess". All of them from Proto Germanic *getiskanan "to get". Sense evolution is
from "to get," to "to take aim at," to "to estimate." U.S. sense of "calculate, recon"
is true to the oldest English meaning. Spelling with gu- is late 16 century,
sometimes attributed to Caxton and his early experience as a printer in Bruges.
Goode: from Old English god (with long “o”); it means “having the right or
desirable quality”. The sense of suitable comes from Proto-Indo-European base
*ghedh-.
Grace: circa 1775, we find a religious meaning: “God‟s favour” or “help”, which
comes from Old French term grace; “pleasing quality”, “favor”, “good will” or
thanks”. It also derives from Latin concept gratia; whose senses are the same.
The interesting aspect is found in the semantic evolution or new adaptations:
Sense of "virtue" is circa 1330; that of "beauty of form or movement, pleasing
quality" is circa 1340. In classical sense, "one of the three sister goddesses (Latin
Gratiæ, Greek Kharites), bestowers of beauty and charm" it is first recorded in
English, 1579 in Spenser. The short prayer that is said before or after a meal
(c.1225, until 16c. usually graces) is in the sense of "gratitude."
Greet: from Old English gretan "to come in contact with" (in sense of "attack,
accost" as well as "salute, welcome"), from West Germanic *grotja, perhaps
originally "to resound" (via notion of "cause to speak"), is the causative form of
Proto Germanic *grætanan, root of Old English grætan (Anglian gretan) "weep,
bewail," and greet still means "cry, weep" in Scotland and northern England
dialect.
Grete: from Old English great; its originally meaning implied the sense of “big
in size or coarse”. Similarly to the French prefix function of grand, in early 16th
century (1538) it also functioned as a prefix, denoting "kinship one degree
further removed". Later, around the 1850s, a new interpretation was adopted:
“excellent or wonderful”.
14
Gernade: From French grenade. The -d developed in French under influence of
Spanish Granada. We have translated it as Granada.
Habergeon: meaning "little hauberk”. The word hauberk is derived from Old
German word “Halsberge”, which originally described a small piece of mail
that protects the throat and the neck.
Hadde: past participle form of verb have; from Old English habban, “to own or
possess”. As we can read by consulting the Oxford English dictionary, it is a
common Teutonic7 verb; therefore, within the branch of Old Saxon we get the
presence of d, as in ha da, habda, -habd, -hadd (Middle Dutch and Dutch. hebben,
hadde, gehad, and Middle Low German: hebben, (hân), hadde, gehat). This tense
developed from Old English gehæfd. Sense of "possess, have at one's disposal"
is a shift from older languages, as just mentioned with the examples of Old
Saxon and Dutch.
He: from Old English is the source of the third person pronouns, meaning “he”.
The paradigm of Old English third person pronoun:
Case
Nom.
Acc.
Gen.
Dat.
SINGULAR
Masc.
He
Hine
His
Him
Neut.
Hit
Hit
His
Him
Fem.
Heo, Hio
Hie, Hi
Hire
Hire
PLURAL
(all genders)
Hie, Hi
Hie, Hi
Hia, Heora
Him, Heom
Heathen: from Old English term hæðen, meaning “not Christian or Jewish”. It
merged with Old Norse term heiðinn. It may have been chosen on model of
Latin term paganus. Like other words for exclusively Christian ideas (e.g.
church) it would have come first into Gothic, and then spread to other Germanic
languages.
7
The Teutons or Teutones (from Proto-Germanic *Þeudanōz) were mentioned as a Germanic tribe by
Greek and Roman authors, whose ethnicity is contested between Gaul’s and Germane. (Extracted from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teutons , visited 6th may, 2009).
15
His: from Old English, genitive of “he”. Originally also the neuter possessive
pronoun, but replaced in that sense around 1600 by “its”. In Middle English,
“hisis” was tried for the absolute pronoun “her, hers”, but it failed.
Honour: circa 1200, "glory, renown, fame earned," from Anglo-French honour,
from Old French honor, from Latin honorem "honor, dignity, office, reputation",
of unknown origin. Till 17th century, honour and honor were equally frequent;
the former now preferred in England, the latter in U.S. by influence of Noah
Webster's spelling reforms. Meaning "a woman's chastity" first attested 1390.
The verb is recorded from c.1290 in sense of "to do honor to. Honorarium
"honorary reward" (1658), was, in Latin, "bribe paid to get appointed to an
honorary post."
Hope: from Old English hopian; meaning “wish”, “expect” or “look forward to
something”. Though it is of unknown origin, to hope was borrowed from Low
German.
Hors: from Old English hors and deriving from Proto-Germanic from *khursa.
The most similar old concept to hors is Old Frisian (hors). Proto-Indo-European
*ekwo- offers a modern meaning: horse, from Latin equus (animal).
Hym: from Old English him, dative singular masculine and neuter of he and it:
cognate with Old Frisian him, and parallel in inflexion to Old Saxon and Old
High German imu, imo. But while him thus became both dative and accusative
in the masculine, in the neuter the accusative hit, it survived, and at length
superseded the dative, as in the modern „give it a push‟. Thus, from being
originally dative masculine and neuter, him is now dative and accusative
masculine, having received extension in case, restriction in gender.
I: from 12nd century from Old English ic, (first person singular nominative
pronoun). Reduced to I by 1137 in northern England, it began to be capitalized
in 1250 to mark it as a distinct word and avoid misreading in handwritten
manuscripts. The form ich or ik, especially before vowels, lingered in northern
England until 1400 and survived in southern dialects until the 18 th century. The
dot on the "small" letter -i- began to appear in the 11th century in Latin
manuscripts, to distinguish the letter from the stroke of another letter (such as 16
m- or -n-). Originally it was a diacritic, reduced to a dot with the introduction of
Roman type fonts.
Ilke: from Old English term ilca; “same”. As consulted in etymonline website,
the structure of this word might be the combination of demonstrative particle ifrom Latin and meaning “idem” + lic-; from Old English gelic denoting “having
the same characteristics or qualities”.
In: from Old English in, inne. Other deriving forms are found from ProtoGermanic (in) and from Proto-Indo-European (en/n). According to the Oxford
English Dictionary, it is cognate with Latin and Greek forms in and ,
correspondently. The general sense stands for a preposition expressing the
relation of inclusion, situation, position, existence, or action, within limits of
space, time, condition, circumstances, and etcetera.
Is: from Germanic stem *es- and from Proto-Indo-European *es-ti. Also evolving
from base *es-, meaning “to be”. Old English form lost the final -t- other forms
such as the Sanskrit one asti or the Latin one est.
It: from Old English hit, neuter nominative and accusative case of third person
singular pronoun. From Proto Germanic, the demonstrative base *khi- (cf. Old
Frisian hit, Du. het, Gothic hita "it"), which is also the root of he. As gender faded
in Middle English, it took on the meaning "thing or animal spoken about
before." The h- was lost due to being in an unemphasized position, as in
modern speech the h- in "give it to him," "ask her," "is only heard in the careful
speech of the partially educated".
Knyght: from Old English (cniht) meaning boy, youth, servant. Meaning
"military follower of a king or other superior" is from circa 1100. The verb
meaning to make a knight of (someone) is from circa 1300. The sense of rank or
dignity of a knight is from circa 1300. According to the Cambridge
International Dictionary of English, nowadays it means a man given a rank of
honor by a British king or queen because of his special achievements, and
who has the right to be called 'Sir'.
17
Lady: from Middle English term lafdi, lavede or ladi; also from Old English
concept hlæfdige; meaning “mistress of a household”, “wife” or a “lord”. In a
literally sense, lady refers to a person who kneads bread; from hlaf (bread). It is
not found outside English language except where borrowed from it. A new
sense is that of "woman of superior position in society", from circa 1205;
"woman whose manners and sensibilities befit her for high rank in society" is
from 1861 (ladylike in this sense is from 1586). Meaning "woman as an object of
chivalrous love" is from 1374. It was also used commonly as an address to any
woman since 1890s. In Old English it was referred to the Holy Virgin.
Late: from Old English “læt” "occurring after the customary or expected time,"
originally meant "slow, sluggish". In Proto Germanic, we find *”latas” and in
Old Norse “latr” meaning “sluggish, lazy”. Deriving as well from Proto IndoEuropean base *”lad”- "slow, weary". The sense of "deceased” is from 1490,
from an adverb sense of "recently."
Lengthe: from Old English and Proto Germanic lengðu "length," from P.Gmc.
*langitho, noun of quality from *langgaz (root of Old English lang "long") + -itho,
abstract noun suffix. Figurative sense of "the distance one goes, extremity to
which something is carried" is from 1697.
Leyd: from Old English lecgan "to place on the ground (or other surface)," also
"put down (often by striking)," from Proto Germanic *lagjanan, first recorded in
1819.
Lettow: Latvian: Latvija, officially Republic of Latvia (Latvian: Latvijas Republika)
is a North European Baltic country in the European Union. It is bordered to the
north by Estonia (343 km), to the south by Lithuania (588 km), and to the east
both by Belarus (141 km) and the Russian Federation (276 km). Across the Baltic
Sea to the west lies Sweden. The territory of Latvia covers 64,589 km² and has a
temperate seasonal climate. Today the Latvian language is only a surviving
member of the Baltic languages of the Indo-European family.8
Lokkes: "tress of hair," from Old English locc, and from Proto Germanic *lukkoz.
Its base *lug- means "to bend, to twist".
Lord: from Old English term hlaford; standing for “master of a household, ruler,
superior”. The Modern monosyllabic form emerged during the 14th century.
8
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LatviA (Visited 5th May, 2009).
18
Lovyere: we have not find the etymological roots of this word, so we have the
etymology of the word we have translated: Lovely- from Old English luflic
"affectionate, loveable," the modern sense of this is from circa 1300.
Lusty: from Old English lust "desire, pleasure," from Proto Germanic *lustuz. In
Middle English, "any source of pleasure or delight," also "an appetite,", "a
liking for a person," and "fertility" (of soil). Lusty from circa 1225 mostly has
escaped the Christianization of the word; the original usage was "joyful,
merry”, and later “full of healthy vigor" in 1374.
Lyeys: Nowadays, we must refer to it as “Ayas”9; a small region placed in
Armenia. Lyeys was a concept used by the Franks 10. Despite the fact that no
etymological origins have been found, we may guide ourselves by other names
used to mention Lyeys, such as Aegea. According to etymonline dictionary,
Aegean Sea is traditionally named for Aegeus, the father of Theseus.
Additionally, it could come from Greek term aiges, meaning “waves”.
Therefore, it is hardly surprising that the term Lyeys is recognized as a port
situated in Lesser Armenia, as well.
Lyf: from Old English life and Proto-Germanic form *liba; “continuance,
perseverance”. In 1703, lyf extended its meaning to “term of duration(of
inanimate objects)”.
Lystes: from Old French term liste: “border”, “bad”, “row”, “group” and “strip
of paper”. Within Chaucer‟s prologue The Knight‟s portrait, this word
maintains the Old English word, surviving in archaic (lists), and meaning
“place of combat”, at the boundary of fields.
Lytel: from Old English term lytel related to Proto-Germanic word lyt ; meaning
“little” or “few”. It is often a synonymous of concept small. Phrase the little
woman "wife" attested from 1795. Little people "the faeries" is from 1726; as
"children," it is attested from 1752; as "ordinary people" it is attested from 1827.
9
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayas_(city) (Visited 5th May, 2009).
The Franks or Frankish people were a West Germanic tribal confederation first attested in the 3rd
century as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. (Extracted from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franks , visited 5th May, 2009).
10
19
Man: from Old English man, mann "human being, person". Sometimes
connected to root *men- "to think", which would make the ground sense of man
"one who has intelligence," but not all linguists accept this. Old English used
wer and wif to distinguish the sexes, but wer began to disappear late 13c. and
was replaced by man. Universal sense of the word remains in mankind (from
Old English mancynn, from cynn "kin. Similarly, Latin had homo "human being"
and vir "adult male human being," but they merged in V.L., with homo
extended to both senses. A like evolution took place in Slavic languages, and in
some of them the word has narrowed to mean "husband."
Maner: Despite other sense applied to this word, the most figurative meaning in
which we are interested, derive from the original sense of “method of
handling”; a connotation extended when the word was used to translate Latin
word modus (“method”).
Many: from Old English words monig, manig. The most similar etymological
term is that of munogu, from Old Church Slavic11, meaning “much” and
“many”. Its modern pronunciation comes from the influence of word any, from
Old English, ænig.
Mayde: from Old English terms mæden, mægden as diminutives of mægð, mægeð.
Deriving from Proto-Germanic *magadinom; meaning “young womanhood,
sexually inexperienced female”. However, it can also evolve from Old High
German term magad, which means “maid” or “maidservant”; which is probably
the meaning Chaucer seeks for in his prologue.
Meeke: from Old Norse mjukr, meaning “soft”, “pliant” or “gentle”. It also
derives from Proto-Germanic term *meukaz. Gothic word muka-modei meant
“humility” and Dutch muik, “soft”. The word appears in the text with the
prefix –ly; which we know adds the sense of an adverb.
11
Old Church Slavic is, according to etymonline website, the earliest attested Slavic language, known
from 9c. C.E. Used by the Slavs of Macedonia and Bulgaria.
(http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=many&searchmode=none website visited 6th
May, 2009)
20
Mortal: This term dates from circa 1368 and 1374 sense of “deadly” and
“doomed to die”. It is a French borrowing, meaning “destined to die”. The
base of the word mor- is found in Proto-Indo-European, which meant “die”.
What is more, a new meaning was added during the 16 th century: the noun
meaning “mortal thing or substance”. From a historic-linguistic point of view it
results of certain interest to notice the derivational process. As a result, we find
a new term: mortality, entailing “the condition of being mortal” and dating
from 1340.
Nacions: circa 1300, from Old French nacion, from Latin nationem (nominative
case natio) "nation, stock, race". Political sense has gradually taken over from
racial meaning "large group of people with common ancestry." Nationality "the
fact of belonging to a particular nation" is from 1828. National is from 1597;
national anthem first recorded 1819, in Shelley. Nationalize "bring under state
control" is from 1869.
Nat: negative particle deriving from naught, deriving from Proto-Indo-European
base *ne- whose meaning leads us to not and no.
Ne: deriving from the above mentioned negation particle. Meaning “not or no”.
Nevere: from Old English næfre. According to etymonline website, it is the
combination of ne (“not, no”) + æfre (“ever”). Nevermore was first attested circa
1205.
No: from Old English na, meaning “never”, “no”. Again, we find ProtoGermanic influence by form *ne with Proto-Indo-European base *ne- (“no, not”).
Noble: deriving from Old French term noble, it entails the sense of "illustrious,
distinguished, worthy of honor or respect”; circa 1225. Originally, a Latin form
noblis: "well-known, famous, renowned, of superior birth”. We may find, as
well, an earlier form: gnobilis, from Proto-Indo-European base gno-, whose sense
is "knowable”.
21
Of: from Old English, unstressed form of „æf‟ (prep., adv.). It meant “away,
away from”. In Old English first meant “away”, but then shifted in Middle
English with the use of the word to translate Latin and Old French “de, ex”,
substituting the genitive case. Proto-Germanic, Old Norse and Dutch: - „af-‟.
Ofte: from Old English oft, akin to Old Frisian ofta, Danish ofte, Germanic oft,
Old Norse opt, Gothic ufta "often;" of unknown origin. It is an archaic term
except in compounds (e.g. oft-told), and replaced by its derivative often.
On: from Old English on, unstressed variant of an "in, on, into" from Proto
Germanic. Also used in Old English in many places where we would now use
in. From 16th to 18th centuries (and still in northern England dialect) often
reduced to o.
Our: from Old English structure ure ("of us”), our is a genitive plural of the first
person pronoun. Deriving as well from Proto- Germanic term *ons. Ours, which
is a double possessive, was originated in North of England circa1300, and has
taken over the function of our. Ourselves, a concept introduced in 1495,
modelled on yourselves, replaced original construction we selfe, us selfum.
Palatye: according to the Wikipedia website12, Palatye is nowadays known as
Balat, which is a traditional Jewish quarter in Istanbul. About its etymology, it
is asserted that the name derives from Greek form Palation, meaning “palace”.
Parfit: implied in perfectium, this term derives from Old French parfit (circa 11th
century) or from Latin perfectus. Both words lead us to modern sense: perfect.
Pilgrymage: this word is from around 1250. A combination of two words:
Pilgrim and -age, the age of the pilgrims. Deriving from Old French pelegrin.
12
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balat_(Istanbul) (visited 8th May, 2009).
22
Port: according to what Oxford English Dictionary states, the term port comes
from Anglo-Norman forms port, poort, porte as well as Middle French word port;
which means “bearing, deportment, conduct, manners, demeanor”.
Prys: from Old Frech term pris; meaning “price”, “valye”, “wages” or reward”
as well as “honor”, “praise” and “prize”.
Pruce: "evergreen tree," 1670, from spruse (adj.) "made of spruce wood" (1412),
lit. "from Prussia," from Spruce, Sprws (1378), unexplained alterations of Pruce
"Prussia," from Old French Spruce seems to have been a generic term for
commodities brought to England by Hanseatic merchants (beer, board, leather).
We have maintained the spelling from the text.
Reede: from Old English term read; it also derives from Proto-Germanic *rauthaz
and Proto-Indo-European base *reudh-; meaning “light red”. There is also a
concept from Russian, rumjanyj which means “flushed red”. Red is the only
color for which a definite common Proto-Indo-European root word has been
found. Red-letter day (circa 1385) was originally a saint's day, marked on
church calendars in red letters. The red flag was used as a symbol of defiance in
battle on land or sea from 1602. Red light as a sign to stop is from 1849, long
before traffic signals. As the sign of a brothel, it is attested from 1900. To see red
"get angry" is an American English expression first recorded 1900.
Reysed: circa 1200, from Old Norse reisa "to raise," from Proto Germanic *raizjan,
causative of base *ris- "to rise". At first it shared many senses with native rear
(v.). It was used in most of the varied modern senses since Middle English;
some later evolutions include "to bring up" (a child), 1744; "to elevate" (the
consciousness), 1970.
rock" (class I strong verb; past tense rad, pp. riden), from Proto Germanic
*ridanan, from Proto Indo European *reidh- "to ride". In that context, we
consider the modern English as “to sit on a horse”.
Ruce: 1538, from Medieval Latin Russi "the people of Russia" from Rus, the
native name of the people and the country. Originally it was the name of a
group of Swedish merchant/warriors who established themselves around Kiev
9c. and founded the original Russian principality; perhaps from Ruotsi, the
23
Finnish name for "Sweden," from Old Norse Roþrslandi, old name of Roslagen
"the land of rowing," where the Finns first encountered the Swedes. Or perhaps
related to the Indo European root for "red," in reference to hair color. Russian
city-states were founded and ruled by Vikings and their descendants. The
Russian form of the name, Rossiya, appears to be from Byzantine Greek Rhosia.
The modern English translation for this word is Russia.
Satalye 13: this term is an alternative word for Antalya, a city found in southwestern Turkey. According to Wikipedia website, it was formerly known as
Adalia or Attalia; deriving from Pamphylian Greek Αττάλεια Attáleia.
Pamphylian Greek is “a little-attested and isolated dialect of Ancient Greek which
was spoken in Pamphylia, on the southern coast of Asia Minor. Its origins and relation
to other Greek dialects are uncertain”. 14
Sayde: from Old English concept secgan; meaning “to utter” or “say”. Past
simple form (saydesaid) developed from Old English segde. About the
semantic context of the word, it was not attested in use with inanimate objects
as subjects before 1930.
See: from Old English form: sæ, meaning “sheet of water, sea or lake". Also
deriving from Proto-Germanic word from *saiwaz, of unknown origin. In
addition to this, there is a general Indo-European form which represented by
English language as mere; a concept used by Germanic languages. Nonetheless,
there is no firm distinction between "sea" and "lake".
Seege: circa 1225, it was "a seat", from Old French sege "seat, throne" from
Vulgar Latin *sedicum "seat," from Latin sedere "sit". The military sense is
attested from circa 1300; the notion is of an army "sitting down" before a
fortress.
Slayn: from Old English slean "to smite" also "to kill with a weapon". Deriving
as well from Proto-Germanic *slakhanan, and from base *slog- "to hit". Modern
German cognate schlagen maintains the original sense of "to strike”.
13
14
http://www.traveljournals.net/explore/turkey/map/m1102836/satalia.html (visited 8th May, 2009).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pamphylian_Greek (visited 5th May, 2009).
24
So: from Old English swa, or swæ, meaning “in this way”. As so many other
terms we have studied, so derives from Proto-Germanic form swa and from
Proto-Indo-European reflexive pronominal stem s(w)o-. In addition to this, the
concept represented expression So? as a term of dismissal is attested from 1886
(short for is that so?).
Somtyme: this term is a combination of two words: some+time. Let us analize
them separately. On the one hand, we find some; from Old English sum;
meaning “some”. Deriving as well from Proto-Germanic concept *sumas and
Proto-Indo-European base *sem- "one, as one". On the other hand, we come
across time; from Old English tima; meaning “limited space of time”. As a
result of this combination, we obtain nowadays concept sometimes.
Sone: from Old English sunu "son" and from Proto Germanic *sunuz. From root
*su- whose meaning is "to give birth".
Sovereign: from Old French word soverain and from Vernacular Latin term
superanus. Its meaning is that of “chief” or “principal”. The shift to –reign
comes from the folk-etymology spelling influence.
Space: coming from Old French term espace, its sense are the following: “an
area”, “extent”, “expanse” or “lapse of time”. In Latin, the word we find is
spatium, an equivalent of nowadays room, area, distance or stretch of time.
Astronomical sense of "stellar depths" is first recorded 1667 in Paradise Lost, by
John Milton. A new interpretation is that of typographical sense; attested from
1676 (typewriter space bar is from 1888).
Squier: dated from circa 1290, meaning "young man who attends a knight,"
later "member of the landowning class ranking below a knight” around 1300,
from Old French esquier "squire”.
Stature: around 1300, "height," from Old French, stature and from Latin statura
"height, size of body, size, growth," from stare "to stand". Figurative sense first
recorded in 1834.
25
Stonden: according to the Oxford English Dictionary online, stond is apparently
a dialectical variant of stand (verb); deriving from Old English concept standan
and from Proto-Indo-European base *sta- "to stand". Sense of "to exist, be
present" is attested from 1300. Meaning “to pay for as a treat”; dating from
1821. It is the last meaning the one that Chaucer conveyed since the Modern
sense would be that of win his lady‟s grace.
Strengthe: from Old English strengþu "power, force, vigor, moral resistance,"
related to Proto Germanic *strangitho, in gradational relationship to the root of
strong.
Tellen: from Old English tellan; meaning “to reckon, calculate, consider or
account”. Nonetheless, new connotations were adopted. Among them, the one
being suitable for Chaucer‟s text is that of "to make known by speech or
writing, announce" from circa 1122.
Tyme: from Old English tima "limited space of time", from Proto Germanic
*timon "time", from Proto Indo European *di-mon. The abstract sense of "time as
an indefinite continuous duration" is recorded from 1388. In English, a single
word encompasses time as "extent" and "point" as well as "hour". Extended
senses such as "occasion," "the right time," "leisure," or times (v.) "multiplied by"
developed in Old English and Middle English, probably as a natural outgrowth
of phrases like, "He commends her a hundred times to God" (Old French La
comande a Deu cent foiz).
Than: from Old English þan, a conjunctive particle used after a comparative
adjective or adverb. The earliest use is in West Germanic comparative forms, as
for example bigger than, which suggests a semantic development from the
demonstrative sense of then: A is bigger than B, evolving from A is bigger, then
("after that") B.
That: from Old English þæt, it is the neuter singular form of the demonstrative
pronoun and adjective (corresponding to the masculine term se and feminine.
seo). Evolving from Proto-Germanic *that and Proto-Indo-European *tod.
26
The: from Old English þe, the nominative masculine form of the demonstrative
pronoun. Originally, se, a form from Proto-Indo-European base so- . Similar to
the above mentioned case of 3rd person plural form personal pronoun (they),
there is no distinction in Old English between masculine and feminine forms.
According to etymonline website, all s- forms were replaced in English around
1250 for the nowadays form the. However, there was no distinction between this
and that.
Nom.
Acc.
Gen.
Dat.
Inst.
Masc.
se
þone
þæs
þæm
þy, þon
Fem.
seo
þa
þære
þære
--
Neut.
þæt
þæt
þæs
þæm
þy, þon
Plural
þa
þa
þara
þæm
--
Ther: from Old English þær "in or at that place" and from Proto Germanic *thær.
With base *to- plus adverbial suffix -r. Interjectional use is recorded from 1535.
Therto: from Old English þærin, it means “therein”.
They: Originally, it was a masculine plural demonstrative pronoun from Old
Norse: þeir. However, it became progressively replaced by Old English forms
hi or hie by 1400. Comparing this personal form to the equivalent in Spanish
language, a remarkable gender matter is to be observed since they still entails
both the masculine and the feminine forms meanwhile in Spanish we clearly
distinguish ellos/ellas.
This: from Old English form þis. It represents the neuter demonstrative pronoun
and adjective. Other forms such as the masculine (þes) and feminine (þeos) are
shown in the table below. This term probably derives from North Sea
Germanic. This represents a pronoun formed by combining the base *þa- (with s, which might be identical with Old English se "the", denoting "a specific
thing".
Though: from Old English term þeah. Also deriving from Old Norse þo, meaning
“though”; both from Proto-Germanic form *thaukh.
27
Thries: from Old English þreo, for the feminine and neuter forms. The masculine
one: þri, þrie; “three”. In Proto-Germanic another form was to be found: *thrijiz.
The most proximate form is the last one mentioned. The only extra aspect to
take into account is the number case of the concept: plural. Nowadays, this
linguistic feature for numbers has disappeared.
To: from Old English "in the direction of, for the purpose of, furthermore"
from West Germanic *to. The nearly universal use of “to” with infinitives (to
sleep, to dream, etc.) arose in Middle English out of the Old English dative use
of “to”, and helped drive out the Old English inflectional endings (though in
this use to itself is a mere sign, without meaning). Commonly used as a prefix
in Middle English (to-hear "listen to," etc.), but few of these survive (to-do,
together, and time references like today, “tonight, tomorrow” - Chaucer also
has to-yeere).
Tramyssene: this is the Modern English word for nowadays Algerian region of
“Tlemcen”; a term whose origins are Arabic; probably from Berber15, according
to the Wikipedia web site. A striking point to observe has to do with the
syntactic patterns of the word. Other concepts to name it are the following
Tlemsen, Tlemsan, or Tilimsen. Nonetheless, the original one we find in Chaucer‟s
text has little relation. The reason is merely due to historical background: if we
think about imperialism, Algeria was one of the French colonies. Therefore,
Tramyssene could be Frech. In fact, one of the languages spoken in Algeria is
French.
Trouthe: from Old English triewð (West Saxon), treowð (Mercian) "faithfulness,
quality of being true," from triewe, treowe "faithful". The meaning "accuracy,
correctness" is from 1570. Unlike lie (verb), there is no primary verb in English
for "speak the truth."
Turkey: Türkiye in the Turkish language, can be divided into two words: Türk,
which means "strong" in Old Turkic16; signifying the inhabitants of Turkey or
a member of the Turkish or Turkic people a later form of "Tu–kin", a name
given by the Chinese to the people living south of Central Asia and the abstract
15
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berber_languages (visited 7th May, 2009)
Old Turkic (also East Old Turkic, Orkhon Turkic, Old Uyghur) is the earliest attested Turkic language,
found in inscriptions by the Göktürks and the Uyghurs in ca. the 7th to 13th centuries AD. (Information
extracted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Turkic_language , visited 8th May, 2009).
16
28
suffix –iye (derived from the Arabic suffix –iyya, but also associated with the
Medieval Latin suffix –ia in Turchia, and the Medieval Greek suffix –ία in
Τουρκία), which means "owner" or "related to".
Twenty: according to etymonline, twenty is from Old English twentig meaning
"group of twenty." Maybe is a form of twegen "two". Cognate with Old Frisian
twintich. The variant form twentieth is from Old English too, twentigoða.
Unto: Consulting etymonline website, unto could be a modification of until, with
southern to in place of northern equivalent till. Perhaps, it is a native formation
on the model of until from Old English *und- “up to. Since 18th century, it is
common of Biblical styles and archaic.
Verray: From Old French verai; “true”. Circa 1250 verray adopted new senses
such as “real” or “genuine”.
Viage: a word from 1297, from Old French “veiage” "travel, journey," from Late
Latin “viaticum” "a journey". The noun use of neuter form is “viaticus”. The
verb is first attested 1477.
Vileynye: from Anglo-French and Old French term vile; coming from Latin vilis,
“cheap”, “worthless”, “base” and “common”. This term dates circa 1225.
Was: from Old English, wesan, wæs, wæron being 1st and 3rd person singular
form of wesan "to remain”. The root wes- comes from Proto-Indo-European,
meaning “remain”, “abide” or “dwell”. It began to supply the past form of
“am” in Proto-Germanic. Therefore, nowadays, was is the past form 1st and 3rd
persons of verb to be, i.e. am/is.
Weel: from Old English terms wel; common from Proto-Germanic. Deriving as
well from Proto-Indo-European forms *wel-, *wol-; meaning “in satisfactory
manner”. Also used as an interjection and an expression of surprise in Old
English: Well-to-do "prosperous" is recorded from 1825.
29
Wel: "in a satisfactory manner," O.E. wel, common Gmc. (cf. O.S. wela, O.N. vel,
O.Fris. wel, Du. wel, O.H.G. wela, Ger. wohl, Goth. waila "well"), from PIE
*wel-, *wol- (cf. Skt. prati varam "at will," O.C.S. vole "well," Welsh gwell
"better," L. velle "to wish, will," O.E. willan "to wish. Here, the definition in
Modern English in this particular case is well.
Wente: from Old English, past tense of “go”; originally past tense and past
participle of “wend”. The original past tense forms of “wend” were “wende,
wended”, but variants “wente”, went developed from circa 1200 and began to
replace older past tenses of “go”. By 1500 they were fully employed in that
function and “wend” was given a new past tense form, “wended”.
Wered: From Old English (second person singular past indicative verb “to
be”). “Wast” (second person singular) was formed circa 1500 on analogy of
“be/beest”, displacing “were”. An intermediate form, “wert”, was used in
literature in17 and 18 centuries, before “were” was placed legitimately.
What: from Old English hwæt, from Proto Germanic *khwat. Meaning "what did
you say?" is recorded from c.1300; as an interrogative expletive at the end of
sentences it is first recorded 1785, common early 20th century in affected British
speech. Or what as an alternative end to a question is first attested 1766. "To
give one what for is to respond to his remonstrant what for? by further assault"
[Weekley]. The phrase is attested from 1873.
When: from Old English forms hwænne, hwenne, hwonne. Deriving from the
Proto-Germanic pronominal stem khwa-. Consulting some entries provided by
etymonline website, there are some linguistic coincidences with other
languages such as Old Saxon, Old Frisian, Modern Dutch and Old High
German and German: hwan; hwenne; wan; hwanne and wann.
Whiche: from Old English hwilc (West Saxon) "which," short for hwi-lic "of what
form" from Proto Germanic *khwilikaz, from *khwi- "who" + *likan "body, form".
In Middle English it was used as a relative pronoun where Modern English
would use who, as still in the Lord's Prayer. Old English also had parallel forms
hwelc and hwylc, which disappeared 15c.
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Whyte: from Old English hwit and Proto-Germanic term *khwitaz, as well as
Proto-Indo-European words *kwintos/*kwindos; meaning “bright”. The most
accurate sense to our translation comes from Sanskrit term svetah; meaning
“white”; colour white.
Wight: from Old English wiht; “living being”, “creature”. Deriving as well from
Proto-Germanic form *wekhtiz.
With: from Old English “wið” meant "against, opposite, toward," a shortened
form related to “wiðer”, from Proto-Germanic. From Proto Indo-European *witero-, literary "more apart," from base *wi- "separation". In Middle English,
sense shifted to denote association, combination, and union, partly influenced
of Old Norse “vidh”, and also perhaps by Latin “cum” "with" (as in pugnare
cum "fight with"). In this sense, it replaced Old English mid "with," which
survives only as a prefix as in for example: midwife. The original sense of
"against, in opposition" is retained in compounds such as withhold, withdraw
or withstand. First record of “with child” meaning "pregnant" is from circa
1200.
Wonderly: we associate that word with wonderful recorded from 1100. And from
wonder: from Old English wundor "marvelous thing, marvel, the object of
astonishment". In Middle English it also came to mean the emotion associated
with such a sight around 1290. The verb is from Old English wundrian. Used
colloquially in Pennsylvania Germanic areas in some transitive senses.
Wonne: From Old English wunian, corresponding to Old Frisian form wunia or
wonia. Meaning “to be accustomed, remain or dwell”.
Worthy: deriving from Old English weorð (equal in value to). Nonetheless, the
exact form comes from Gothic (branch of East Germanic; now extinct) term
wairþs; “worth, worthy”. The adjective form means “having merit”. Circa 1300,
it was attested as a noun meaning “person of merit”.
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Yeer: It comes from Old English gear in the West Saxon part, and from Anglia
ger, meaning "year”. Probably originally meant "that which makes a complete
cycle," and from verbal root *ei- meaning "to do, make."
Yet: from Old English get, gieta; meaning “till now”, “thus far”, “earlier”, “at
last”, “also”. It is an Anglo-Frisian word of unknown origin. The meaning in
other Germanic languages is expressed by descendants of Proto-Germanic *noh.
Young: from Old English geong "youthful, young," from Proto Germanic
*jungas. The noun meaning is first attested in 1484.
Yow: from Old English eow. It is the objective case of ge, (ye): which is the
nominative plural form of second personal pronoun you. It altered, by influence
of we, from an earlier form that was similar to Gothic jus “you” in the plural
form.
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3. Webgraphy.
► http://hompi.sogang.ac.kr/anthony/Chaucer/GenProlNotes.htm (visited 26th March,
2009).
► http://pages.towson.edu/duncan/chaucer/gpopening1.htm (visited 26th March, 2009).
► http://pages.towson.edu/duncan/chaucer/gpopening1.htm (visited 26th March, 2009).
► http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algezir (visited 5th May, 2009)
► http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alisaundre (visited 5th May, 2009)
► http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pamphylian_Greek (visited 5th May, 2009).
► http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LatviA (Visited 5th May, 2009).
► http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ayas_(city) (Visited 5th May, 2009).
►http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franks (visited 5th May, 2009).
► http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teutons (visited 6th may, 2009)
► http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berber_languages (visited 7th May, 2009)
► http://www.traveljournals.net/explore/turkey/map/m1102836/satalia.html (visited 8th
May, 2009).
► http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=many&searchmode=none
May, 2009).
(visited
8th
►http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Turkic_language (visited 8th May, 2009).
►http://www.etymonline.com/
►http://www.oed.com/
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