1st Edition

Binomials in Late Middle English to Early Modern English Style, Frequency and Etymology

By Akinobu Tani Copyright 2025
246 Pages 32 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

246 Pages 32 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

246 Pages 32 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

This book charts the development of style and lexicon in the English language from Late Middle English to Early Modern English through the analysis of binomials across a wide range of texts and genres. The volume elucidates the forms, functions, and origins of binomials, otherwise understood as word pairs, such as “safe and sound,” as they manifest in representative prose texts from the... Read more

Contents

List of Figures

List of Tables

Acknowledgements

Abbreviations

 

Chapter 1  Introduction

1.1 The purpose of the Present Monograph

1.2 Characteristics of Binomials to be Analyzed in this Study

1.3 Frequency and Distribution of Binomials

1.4 Significance of Studying Binomials in LME prose

1.5 Styles in LME prose

1.6 Lexical Reorganization in LME and its Impact on Phraseology

1.7 Previous Studies of Binomials in LME

1.8 Research Methodology

1.9 LME Texts to be Examined and the Editions and E-texts Employed

1.10 The Structure of this Study

 

Chapter 2  A Preliminary Survey of Binomials in Chaucer’s Prose Texts

2.1 Introduction

2.2 Previous Studies on Chaucer’s Prose and on Binomials in Chaucer’s Prose

2.3 Normalized Frequency of Binomials in Chaucer’s Prose Texts

2.4 Etymological Makeup of Binomials in Chaucer’s Prose Texts

2.5 Repetition of Binomials in Chaucer’s Prose Texts

2.6 Summary and Conclusion

 

Chapter 3 Binomials in Caxton’s Translations: Paris and Vienne and the History of Reynard the Fox

3.1 Introduction

3.2 Normalized Frequency of Binomials in Paris and Reynard

3.3 Etymological Makeup of Binomials in Paris and Reynard

3.4 Repetition of Binomials in Paris and Reynard

            3.5 Caxton vs. Chaucer: A Comparison of Translated Works, Caxton’s Paris and
      Chaucer’s Bo

3.6 Summary and Conclusion

 

Chapter 4  Binomials in a Chronicle and the “Chronicle Style:” The Brut and Malory’s Le Morte Darthur

4.1 Introduction

4.2 Binomials in the Brut or the Chronicle of England

4.3 Binomials in the Works of Sir Thomas Malory

4.4 Book V of Caxton’s Edition of Le Morte Darthur vs. Book 2 in the Winchester

Manuscript

4.5 Summary and Conclusion

 

Chapter 5  Binomials in Political and Philosophical Texts: On the Governance of England and On the Properties of Things

5.1 Binomials in On the Governance of England

5.2 Binomials in On the Properties of Things

5.3 Summary and Conclusion

 

Chapter 6  Binomials in Religious Texts: The Mirror of the Blessed Life of Jesus Christ and the English Wycliffite Sermons

6.1 Introduction

6.2 Binomials in The Mirror of the Blessed Life of Jesus Christ

6.3 Binomials in the English Wycliffite Sermons

6.4 Comparative Analysis of Religious Texts: The Parson’s Tale, The Mirror of the

Blessed Life of Jesus Christ, and the English Wycliffite Sermons

6.5 Summary and Conclusion

 

Chapter 7  Binomials in Epistolary and Legal Documents: The Signet Letters of Henry V and the Paston Letters and Papers

7.1 Introduction

7.2 Binomials in the Signet Letters of Henry V

7.3 Binomials in the Paston Letters and Papers

7.4 Comparison between the Signet Letters of Henry V and the Paston Letter Texts

7.5 Summary and Conclusion

 

Chapter 8  Grouping and Comparison of Texts Using Statistical Analyses of Binomials

8.1 Introduction

8.2 Overall Data of Frequency and Etymological Makeup

8.3 Statistical Analyses

8.4 Comparison of Findings by Statistical Analyses with Manual Analyses in the Foregoing Chapters

8.5 Summary and Conclusion

 

Chapter 9  Motivations for the Use of Binomials (1): Evidences from Chaucer’s and Caxton’s Translations

9.1 Introduction

9.2 Motivations for the Use of Binomials in Chaucer’s Prose Texts

9.3 Caxton’s Treatment of Binomials in the History of Reynard the Fox in Comparison with the MD Original Die Historie Van Den Vos Reynaerde

9.4 Caxton’s Treatment of Binomials in Paris and Vienne in Comparison to the MF Original Paris et Vienne

9.5 Conclusion

 

Chapter 10  Motivations for the Use of Binomials (2): Evidences from a Comparison of Binomials Between Chaucer’s Verse and Prose

10.1 Motivation for the Use of Binomials in Chaucer’s Prose Compared to Binomials in his Verse

10.2 Previous Studies

10.3 Normalized Frequency of Binomials in Chaucer’s Verse and Prose

10.4 Etymological Makeup of Binomials in Chaucer’s Verse and Prose

10.5 Repetition of Binomials in Chaucer’s Verse and Prose

10.6 Morphology of Binomial Members in Chaucer’s Verse and Prose

10.7 Rhyming Binomials in Chaucer’s Verse

10.8 Binomials in Individual Verse Texts of Fragment I

10.9 Conclusion

 

Chapter 11  Historical Development of Binomials from 1350 to 1710 across Text Types in the Helsinki Corpus

11.1 Introduction

11.2 Frequency of Binomials

11.3 Etymological Makeup of Binomials

11.4 Relevance of the Most Repeated Binomials to Text Types

11.5 Summary and Conclusion

 

Chapter 12  Conclusion

 

References

Index

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Biography

Akinobu Tani is Professor in the Graduate School of Language, Communication, and Culture at Kwansei Gakuin University, Japan.