Dialectal Consciousness in the Prefect's Tale Throughout any given period of human history, language has been the highest expression of observable and transmissible culture . Individuals generally affiliate with those of similar culture and characteristics and tend to avoid those who express qualities and beliefs different from what is commonly accepted or familiar. Conflicts often arise among identical groups of people with common beliefs, simply because a particular dialect of their language is foreign to the ear of another group, or is difficult for that other group to understand. The differences between the northern and southern dialects of Middle English in the late 1300s were, for many valid reasons, so distinct that over time dividing lines were conceived, as were visions stereotypes of people who spoke the language of the North. But the 14th-century poet Geoffrey Chaucer saw beyond the divisions and got to the heart of the problem; He recognized the effectiveness and validity of the northern dialects, seeing them as equally appropriate forms of English as his own native "Londonian", a mixture of southern and East Midlands dialects. It is by capitalizing on these well-known stereotypical views through his distinct dialectal differences that Chaucer helps Oswald the Reeve get a head start on the sassy Miller through his own satirical and clever Canterbury Tale. In order to understand the implications that dialectal differences would have had on From the southern perspective of a northern speaker of Middle English, one must first study the individual differences that clearly existed between the two forms of the language. As there was no standardization of ...... middle of paper ......frey. The Canterbury Tales: Nine Tales and the General Prologue.Ed. VA Kolve and Glending Olson. New York: W. W. Norton, 1989. Clark, Cecily. “Another case of late 14th century dialect awareness.” Review of English Studies 40 (1989): 504-505. Ellis, Deborah S. "Chaucer's Devilish Reeve." Chaucer Review 27 (1995): 150-161. Geipel, John. Viking heritage: the Scandinavian influence on the English and Gaelic languages. London: David & Charles, 1971. Hughes, Arthur and Peter Trudgill. English accents and dialects: an introduction to the social and regional varieties of British English. Baltimore: University Park P, 1979. Mossé, Fernand. "Introduction." A textbook of average English. Trans. James A. Walker. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 1952. Woods, William F. “The Logic of Deprivation in The Reeve s Tale.” ChaucerReview 30 (1996) : 150-161.