138 Epistemic Parentheticals
fi ne- grained pictures of each expression, informed by detailed study of their
contemporary usage” (288) and her “data- oriented study is a most welcome
and meritorious one” (289). But her selection of only more “certain- sounding
expressions” perhaps skews her results and, more importantly, fails to present
a complete picture of epistemic expression in the post- and, especially, pre-
Enlightenment period.
5.4 Epistemic Marking in Middle English
We begin our examination of the history of epistemic parentheticals by con-
sidering the expression of epistemicity in Middle English, looking at both
fi rst- person epistemic parentheticals (5.4.1) and, for purposes of comparison,
epistemic adverbs (5.4.2).^10
5.4.1 First- Person Epistemic Parentheticals
Many of the same verbs identifi ed as modal lexical verbs in Modern English –
namely, believe , guess , know , suppose , think , and understand – as well as other
verbs, now archaic or obsolete, are used as fi rst- person epistemic parentheti-
cals in Middle English.
The traditional view of these forms is that they serve as fi llers or metrical
tags or as signs of colloquiality. For example, I gesse is “often a mere tag”
(Benson 1987 : 1252) or a “pause- fi ller” with “no semantic content” (Salmon
1975 : 268), and I wene is “in verse often a mere tag” (OED: s.v. ween , v., def.
1h); as I gesse/ trowe are “often clearly padding” (Kivimaa 1968 : 49), and I
trowe is considered a “weak expletive” (Benson 1987 : 1300; also Davis et al.
1979: s.v. trowe[n , def. 4; OED: s.v. trow , v., def. 4b). Masui ( 1964 : 259– 260)
observes that (as) I gesse , I trowe , I undertake , I deme , (as) I leeve , and as I was
war “often stand in rime.” At the same time, however, Kivimaa ( 1968 : 13, 48)
insightfully observes that expressions such as as I gesse , as it thoughte me , as
I was war , as I trowe , and so on in Middle English are “comments concerning
the reliability of something stated” or “assure the listener of the truthfulness
of a statement.”
In respect to the oral nature of these forms, Robertson ( 1933 : 39) identifi es I
gesse as a “colloquialism,” but not one to be condemned since it gives the text
a “racy, insouciant air.” Bronson ( 1940 : 21– 22) recognizes expressions such
as I gesse , I trowe , I woot , I undertake , I seyde ‘I said,’ I seigh ‘I say,’ and I
10 Non- fi rst- person epistemic parentheticals also occur in Middle English, such as it is no doute
‘it is no doubt,’ as it is knowen out of drede ‘as it is known doubtless,’ as knoweth many a man
‘as knows many a man.’ Particularly common are God woot ‘God knows’ and trusteh (me) well
‘trust me well’ (see Brinton 1996 : 254– 256).