150 Epistemic Parentheticals
First, they occur in metacomments (cf. Boggel 2009) concerning the telling
of the tale:
(15) a. Now wolde som men waiten, as I gesse ,/ That I sholde tellen al the pur-
veiance ... (1387– 1400 Chaucer, CT B.ML 246– 47)
‘Now would some men expect, as I guess, that I should tell all the
provision ...’
b. F o r , as I trowe , I have yow toold ynowe ... (1387– 1400 Chaucer, CT
G.CY 860)
‘For, as I believe, I have told you enough ...’
Second, they accompany inexact or imprecise measurements of time or
space. While these resemble the deductions from evidence or appearances with
which fi rst- person epistemic parentheticals occur in discourse (see examples in
12), note that here there is no (fi ctional) observer postulated:
(16) a. Hir yelow heer was broyded in a tresse/ Bihynde hir bak, a yerde long, I
gesse. (1387– 1400 Chaucer, CT A.Kn. 1049– 50)
‘Her yellow hair was braided in a tress behind her back, a yard long,
I guess’
b. The dede sleep, for wery bisynesse/ Fil on this carpenter right, as I gesse ,/
Aboute corfew- tyme, or litel moore. (1387– 1400 Chaucer, CT A.Mil.
3643– 45)
‘The dead sleep, on account of the wearying business, fell on the carpenter
right, as I guess, about dusk or a little later’
Third, they occur emphatically with descriptions of plot detail:(17) And fi rst to Cecile, as I understonde ,/ He yaf that oon ... (1387– 1400 Chaucer,
CT G.SN 222– 23)
‘And fi rst to St. Cecilia, as I understand, he gave that one ...’
Finally, they occur with the narrator’s comments, evaluations, or judg ments:(18) a. “And yet, I trowe , he that al his lyve/ Wyfl ees hath been ...” (1387– 1400
Chaucer, CT E.Mch. 1235– 36)
‘And yet, I believe, he who all his life has been without a wife ...’
b. Mishap wol maken him enemys, I gesse. (1387– 1400 Chaucer, CT
B.Mk. 2245)
‘Mishap will make them enemies, I guess’
In contrast, all of the fi rst- person parentheticals in the external narration
(Chaucer the pilgrim’s narration) – including the seven instances of paren-
theticals in “The general prologue” and the one instance in the “Prologue to
the Parson’s tale” – are appended to statements expressing deductions or judg-
ments from appearances, whether it is the narrator’s assessment of the width of