르네상스영문학과 영어학의 경계 넘기:초서주의(Chaucerism)를 중심으로

Abstract

Studying the English language can be realized as syntactic approach to its phrases and sentences, phonetic or phonological approach to its pronunciations, and lexical approach to its vocabulary. Among these, the lexical approach, the study of the English vocabulary/lexicon, can be extended as one way to cross the boundaries between English literature and linguistics, particularly between Renaissance literature and linguistics as explored in this paper. The paper discusses the Inkhorn Controversy in which the borrowing of Latinate words was either approved or opposed during the English Renaissance period. It also reviews Chaucerism, an alternative to the borrowing of Latinate words, suggested by medieval English scholars. Obsolete words of Chaucerism practiced by medieval authors including John Cheke and Edmund Spenser are thoroughly examined in this paper referring to OED, to find out if they have survived in the Present Day English and if there might have been any semantic changes.