
Bonus Episode: Chaucer’s Purse and the Great Vowel Shift
The History of English Podcast
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The Purse Is the Light of My Life
In Chaucer's original middle s new purse that be to ma me leave is licht and saver as doon in this world. Beith heavy again, or else must i die. The word town was still sometimes used in its original sense as a walled enclosure. Over time, the word has been extended to large settlements because those settlements usually had protective walls. Originally, the word town could refer to a small scale enclosure as well.
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