5.5 First-Person Epistemic Parentheticals in Chaucer 145c. So evene were they chosen, for to gesse. (1387– 1400 Chaucer, CT
A.Kn. 2593)
‘So evenly they were chosen, as an estimate’
5.5 First- Person Epistemic Parentheticals in Chaucer
In order to determine the function of fi rst- person parentheticals in Middle
English, this section presents a study of their use in Chaucer’s The Canterbury
tales and Troilus and Criseyde.^14 In addition to providing frequent and varied
examples of epistemic parentheticals, these are particularly fruitful texts for
study because of their complex structures, including both narration and dis-
course (i.e., dialogue/ monologue). In The Canterbury tales , fi ve modes and
levels can be distinguished (cf. Ness and Duncan- Rose 1982 : 306– 307):^15
(a) external narration: Chaucer’s narration of the external frame story of the
journey to Canterbury;
(b) primary internal discourse: the dialogue of the pilgrims on the journey,
including the prologues to tales;
(c) primary internal narration: the pilgrims’ narrations of their tales;
(d) secondary internal discourse: the dialogue of characters within the tales;
(e) secondary internal narration: the narration of stories by characters within
the tales; and
(f) external direct discourse: Chaucer the poet addressing the audience outside
the narrative.
Because it lacks the external frame narrative of The Canterbury Tales ,
Troilus and Criysede presents only three levels: narration (commentary by the
omniscient narrator), primary discourse (the dialogue of characters within the
narrative), and secondary discourse (the reporting of characters’ discourse by
other characters).
5.5.1 Frequency and Position
There are eighty- seven examples of fi rst- person epistemic parentheticals in
The Canterbury tales and fi fty- one in Troilus and Criseyde. Table 5.2 shows
the numbers of parentheticals occurring sentence initially, medially, or fi nally.
Medial parentheticals include those occurring within or between constituents,
including between main and subordinate clauses. Sentence- fi nal parentheticals
include those occurring at the end of a sentence or before a conjoined clause.
14 For a more complete version of this study, see Brinton ( 1996 : 215– 239, 313– 322).
15 Ness and Duncan- Rose identify an additional category, tertiary internal discourse (the dialogue
of characters within a secondary internal narration), but no parentheticals are found in this
mode of discourse.