Chaucers Original Works
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Essay 1: Chaucer's Original Works
Throughout all of the works we have read this semester, only those written by Geoffrey Chaucer were portrayed in their original language. For example, The Canterbury Tales were written in Middle English (1100AD-1500AD), which serves as a bridge to Modern English (1500AD-the present). Iambic tetrameter, which uses four feet, for a total of eight syllables is used in this type of writing. Had this been changed, many of the words would not have the same syllables, and therefore, the meaning of the work would be distorted. There are, however, difficulties that remain, but standardized spelling and footnotes are present, which enable the reader to comprehend it without translation. It was, on the other hand, necessary to transform the works by the other authors, as their writings were in Old English.
Old English was very heavily inflected, meaning almost all classes of words undertook intricate patterns of change. The Old English terminology was almost entirely Germanic. When Middle English came about, though, this inflection was narrowed; therefore these works, as portrayed with Chaucer, did not have to undergo any modifications.
Although Chaucer's works were written in Middle English, difficulties remained, as stated above, but helpful methods were provided...