144 Epistemic Parentheticals
Below are Chaucerian examples of adverbs (3) and adverbial phrases
(4) expressing certainty. Examples expressing doubt are given in (5):^13
(3) a. But wonder soore he was abayst, iwis. (1380– 86 Chaucer, TC III 1122)
‘But very sorely he was abased, to be sure’
b. “Thre thynges, certes , shal ye wynne therby.” (1387– 1400 Chaucer, CT
E.Mch. 2170)
‘Three things, certainly, you shall win thereby’
c. And sikerly she was of greet desport ... (1387– 1400 Chaucer, CT A.Prol. 137)
‘And certainly she was dignifi ed in manner ...’
d. A wyf is Goddes yifte verraily (1387– 1400 Chaucer, CT E.Mch 1311)
‘a wife is god’s gift truly’
e. I shal nat faille surely of my day (1387– 1400 Chaucer, CT B.Sh 1465)
‘I shall not fail surely in my day’
(4) a. “ Out of doute / Thou hast me wounded in myn herte ...” (1387– 1400
Chaucer, CT E.Mch. 2144– 45)
‘Without doubt, you have wounded me in my heart ...’
b. To preche, and eek to begge, it is no doute. (1387– 1400 Chaucer, CT
D.Sum. 1712)
‘To preach, and also to beg, it is no doubt’
c. “I am oon the fairest, out of drede ...” (1380– 86 Chaucer, TC II 746)
‘I am one of the fairest, doubtless ...’
d. Who koude ryme in Englyssh properly/ His martyrdom? For sothe it am nat
I (1387– 1400 Chaucer, CT A.Kn 1459– 60)
‘Who could rhyme in English properly his martyrdom? Truly it is not I’
e. Thow shalt be saved by thi feyth, in trouthe (1380– 86 Chaucer, TC
II 1503)
‘you shall be save by your faith, indeed’
f. F o r by my trouthe , if that I shal nat lye,/ I saught nat this yeer so myrie a
compaignye (1387– 1400 Chaucer, CT A.Prol 763– 64)
‘for by my honor, if that I shall not lie, I saw never this year so merry a
company’
g. I wil arise and auntre it, by my faith (1387– 1400 Chaucer, CT A.Rv 4209)
‘I will arise and risk it truly’
(5) a. “And yet, peraunter , kan I reden the/ And nat myself; repreve me na more.”
(1380– 86 Chaucer, TC I 668– 69)
‘And yet, by chance, I can advise you and not myself; reproach me no more’
b. It mai par chance faile. (1390 Gower, Confessio amantis 1.2225 [MED])
‘It may per chance fail’
“implicit” markers, indeterminate between metadiscoursive comments made by the author and
part of the proposition itself; i.e., the stance cannot be attributed unambiguously to the author.
13 Bromhead ( 2009 : Chs. 3– 7) provides a detailed examination of the meaning and function of
verily , surely , forsooth , in truth/ by my troth , and by my faith in the sixteenth and seventeenth
century, all of which are now obsolete or highly restricted, except surely.