Chancery and Written English

FAIN: FA-11108-75

John H. Fisher
University of Tennessee, Knoxville (Knoxville, TN 37916-3801)

To assemble materials and lay the groundwork for what will be a long-term investigation of the relations between written and spoken English. The study will attempt to determine whether "Chancery Standard," a written medieval English found in public records, was compounded deliberately as a written vehicle for practical and political purposes. The program will involve consulting with other scholars in the field, copying early Chancery records (before 1450), studying early style manuals, and analyzing the gathered material.