Old English Syntax
НАЦІОНАЛЬНИЙ ТЕХНІЧНИЙ УНІВЕРСИТЕТ УКРАЇНИ
«КИЇВСЬКИЙ
ПОЛІТЕХНІЧНИЙ ІНСТИТУТ»
Факультет лінгвістики
Кафедра
англійської мови
Реферат
з курсу «Історія англійської мови»
на тему
«Old
English Syntax»
Виконала
ст. гр. ЛА-61, ФЛ
Негода
О.Е.
Київ
2008
Table
of content
Introduction……………………………………………
1. The phrase………………………………………………………………
1.1.
Ways of expressing syntactical relations………………………………………………………
1.1.1.
Agreement………………………………………………………
1.1.2.
Government……………………………………………………
1.1.3.
Joining……………………………………………………………
1.2. Three
component phrases……………………………………………………………
1.2.1. Verb + Substantive Dat. + Substantive (Pronoun) Acc……………………………………….5
1.2.2. Verb + Preposition + Substantive (Pronoun)……………………………………………… 5
2. The
sentence…………………………………………………………
2.1.
The simple sentence…………………………………………………………
2.1.1.
Main parts…………………………………………………………………
2.1.2.
Secondary parts…………………………………………………………………
2.1.3. One member and elliptical sentences………………………………………………… 7
2.1.4. Sentences introduced by hit and pær…………………………………………………………8
2.1.5.
Uses of infinitive and participle……………………………………………………
2.1.6..
Infinitive phrases……………………………………………………………
2.1.7.
Substantive + Participle or Adjective………………………………………………………
2.1.8
Negation…………………………………………………………
2.2.
The composite sentence…………………………………………………………
2.2.1.
The compound sentence…………………………………………………………
2.2.2.
The copmlex sentence…………………………………………………………
2.2.3.
Mixed sentences………………………………………………………
3. Word
order…………………………………………………………………
3.1.
Subject-Verb………………………………………………
3.2.
Verb – Subject……………………………………………………………
3.3.
Subject…Verb………………………………………………
Conclusion……………………………………………………
Bibliography………………………………………………
Introduction
Old English was a synthetic language (the lexical and grammatical notions of the word were contained in one unit). It was highly inflected with many various affixes.The principal grammatical means were suffixation, vowel interchange and supplition.Historical syntax has been studied to a much smaller extent than either phonetics, lexicology or morphology. Though the main trends in the development of syntactic structure appear to be clear, many more detailed investigations have yet to be made to complete the picture.
In treating syntax we shall distinguish between two levels – that of phrase and that of the sentence.
1. THE PHRASE
In OE texts we find a variety of word phrases (word groups or patterns). OE noun patterns, adjective patterns and verb patterns had certain specific features which are important to note in view of their later changes.
A noun pattern consisted of a noun as the head word and pronouns, adjectives (including verbal adjectives, or participles), numerals and other nouns as determiners and attributes. Most noun modifiers agreed with the noun in gender, number and case, e.g.:
On pæm ōprum prim daʒum... 'in those other three days' — Dat. pl. Masc.
Ohthere sæde his hlāforde, AElfrēde cyniʒne 'Ohthere said to his lord, king Alfred' — the noun in apposition is in the Dat. sg. like the head noun.
Nouns which
served as attributes to other nouns usually had the form of the
Gen. case: 'hwā
hiora h ȳ d bi ð swiðe ʒod tō scip-rāpum 'their hide is very good for ship ropes'.
Verb patterns included a great variety of dependant components : nouns and pronouns in oblique
cases with or without prepositions, adverbs, infinitives and participles, e.g.:
bring p ā pinʒ 'bring those things' (Acc.)
Hē ... sealde hit hys māder 'he ... gave it to his mother' (Acc., Dat.)
he ðær b ā d westanwindes 'there he waited for the western wind’ (Gen.)
Isaac cwæð tō his suna 'Isaac said to his son' (preposition plus Dat.);
bi pære ēa siʒlan 'sail past that river' (preposition plus Dat. in an adverbial meaning).
Hu mihtest pu hit swā hrædlice findan? 'how could you find it so lickly' (adverb)
Infinitives
and participles were often used in verb phrases with verbs of incomplete
predication (some of these phrases were later transformed into analytical
forms): mihtest findan 'might find' in the last example, hē
wolde fandian 'he wanted to find out', hie onʒunnon
m ā repian 'they began to rage more'.
1.1. Ways of expressing syntactical relations
These may be classed under three headings: agreement, government, joining.
Agreement
This is mainly used in attributive groups, to denote the syntactical relation between an adjective (or pronoun) and the substantive (its head word). E.g.: micle meras fersce 'large fresh-water lakes', mislicum ond maniʒfealdum bisʒum 'different and manifold occupations' (dative plural), sealtne sæ 'salt sea' (accusative); also between pronoun and substantive: ōðre hwalas 'other whales', ðære bec 'that book' (dative).
Government
This is a type of syntactical connection on phrase level characterized by a substantive or pronoun standing in a certain case (accusative, genitive, or dative) dependent on the head word requiring this particular case. Some verbs require the dependent substantive to be in the accusative case (these are the so-called transitive verbs), as in: leoð wyrcan 'compose songs', andsware onfōn 'receive an answer', ʒesomnian pa men 'assemble the men'.
Other verbs require a dependent substantive to be in the genitive (this is usually the case when the verb denotes an idea of attaining, or reaching, or touching an object), as in: nēosian luses 'approach the house', bidan windes 'wait for the wind', hlyste minra worda 'listen to my words'.
Lastly, a verb may require a substantive to be in the dative, as in: hyre sæde 'said to her'.
Government by adjectives is much more limited in scope. An adjective usually requires a dependent substantive to be in the genitive, as in: morpres scyldiʒ 'guilty of murder'; wrætta full 'full of treasures', syfan elna lanʒ 'seven ells long'.
Only rarely does an adjective require its dependent substantive to be in the dative. This is the case, for example, in the phrase ʒōde hāliʒ 'holy to God'.
Joining
An adverb referring
to a verb or an adjective is connected
with it without any formal means, by what is usually called joining
ʒretan
frēondlice 'greet in a friendly way', miclelæssa 'much
smaller'.
1.2. Three-component Phrases
Two-component phrases may be enlarged by addition of a third component. The variety of such patterns is greater than that of elementary two-component phrases. We need not give here a complete list of all possible patterns. We will only cite some of the most widely used ones. Among these are the patterns: "verb + substantive dat. + substantive ace.", and "verb + preposition + substantive".
Verb + Substantive Dat. + Substantive (Pronoun) Acc.
Here we find
such phrases as: sealde hit his meder 'gave_it (to) his mother',
sinʒ mē hwæthwuʒu 'sing me something', pæm
wordum moniʒ
word ʒepeodde 'to those words many
words added'.
Verb + Preposition + Substantive (Pronoun)
Here we find a number of different prepositions involved, e. g. secʒan to him 'say to him', feohtan wip pone here 'fight with the (enemy's) army', cwæp to him 'said to him', secʒan ymb Asia londʒemære 'speak about the land of Asia'.
Of course, still larger (four-component, five-component, etc.) phrases are also used, but we need not go into details about them here.
2. THE SENTENCE
2.1. The Simple Sentence
A sentence, as is well known, is a unit of a different kind from a phrase. It is a unit of communication, that is, it has its own intonation, and is used by speakers or writers to communicate their thoughts. A sentence may consist of one word only, or of a phrase, or of a group of phrases, etc.: it all depends on the thought to be expressed.
In speaking about parts of the sentence, we will use a more or less traditional system in this respect, speaking of two main parts: the subject and the predicate, and several secondary ones: the object, the attribute, the apposition, the adverbial modifier, direct address, and parenthesis.
2.1.1. Main Parts
The Subject
There are various ways of expressing the subject in OE. The most usual of these is naturally a substantive, as in the following sentences: Ohthere sæde his hlaforde 'Ohthere said to his lord', se here wæs ham hweorfende 'the army was returning home'.
Often enough, the subject is a pronoun, as in the sentences he pas andsware onfenʒ 'he received this answer'; hu hit ʒewurðan mihte 'how it could happen', ponne todælap hi his feoh 'then they divide his property'.
The Predicate
The predicate in OE may be either verbal or nominal. Again, the verbal predicate may be either simple or compound.
The simple verbal predicate is one expressed by the form of one verb, either simple, or, in some cases, analytical. As to the latter variety, it should be noted, that we cannot always clearly distinguish between a compound predicate and a simple verbal one, with an analytical verb form. Examples of a simple verbal predicate are of course very numerous, e.g.: pa cwæp he 'then he said', pa Finnas and pa Beormas spræcon neah an ʒepeode 'the Finns and the Berms spoke nearly the same language', he for pider 'he sailed there'. A compound verbal predicate can be seen in the following sentences: Ne con ic noht sinʒan.—Hwæðre pu canst sinʒan.— Hwæt sceat ic sinʒan? (Bede, translated by King Alfred.) "I cannot sing anything. — But thou canst sing. — What shall I sing?'
A nominal predicate seems to be always compound in OE. We can see it, for example, in the following sentences: he wæs swype spediʒ man 'he was a very rich man', eart pu se Beowulf, sepe wip Brecon wunne? 'art thou the Beowulf who competed with Breca?'
2.1.2. Secondary Parts
The Object
Objects can be expressed by substantives or pronouns in the accusative, dative, or genitive case.
Most usually an object (with so-called transitive verbs) is expressed by a substantive or pronoun in the accusative case, as in: he pa pas andsware onfenʒ 'he then received this answer', hi hine forbærnap 'they burn him', sæʒdon sum haliʒ spelt 'told a holy story'. There may be two objects in one sentence, one direct, the other indirect, and the difference is seen in the case forms; the direct object is in the accusative, and the indirect in the dative, as in: fela spella him sæʒdon pa Beormas 'the Permians told him many stories', sinʒ me hwæthwuʒu 'sing me something'. The indirect object in the dative can also express the instrument of the action (this is the meaning of the dative inherited from the original instrumental case), as in Alfred cyniʒ hatep ʒretan Wærferp ærcebiscop his wordum 'king Alfred greets archbishop Warferth with his words'.
Very often the object is expressed by the phrase "preposition + substantive or pronoun", as in: nu hæbbe we scortlice ʒessed ymb Asia londʒemsere 'now we have briefly spoken about the land of Asia'. The lexical meaning of the preposition is of course essential for the expression of the actual extralinguistic relation between the object and the action or other object mentioned in the sentence.
The Attribute
An attribute may be expressed either by an adjective or by a pronoun, or numeral, of by a substantive in the genitive case, or by a phrase "preposition + substantive". Examples of all these varieties are numerous enough. E. g.: he wæs swyðe spediʒ man 'he was a very rich man', pa clypode he Esau, his yldran sunu 'then he called Esau, his elder son', brinʒ me twa, pa betstan tyccenu 'bring me two, the best kids', pær sceal ælces ʒepeodes man beon forbærned 'a man of every tribe shall be burnt'.
The Apposition
Appositions
of various sizes, referring either to a substantive or to a pronoun,
are found in many OE texts. E. g.: Martianus casere 'the emperor
Martian', Ohthere sæde his hlaforde, AElfrede cyninʒe
'Ohthere said to his lord, king Alfred', wæs he, se man, in woruldhade ʒeseted
'he, the man, was a layman', her com AElfred, se unsceððiʒa
æpelins, AEpelrædes sunu cinʒes, hider inn 'at this time
Alfred, the innocent nobleman, son of king Ethelred, arrived here'.
The Adverbial Modifier
An adverbial modifier may be expressed either by an adverb or by a phrase "preposition + substantive". The first variety may be seen in such sentences as: pa eode he ham 'then he went home', pin bropor com facenlice 'your brother came heatingly'. The adverbial modifier may be one of manner, or time or place, etc., depending on the lexical meaning of the adverb.
The second variety "preposition + substantive" is found in the following sentences: hwelce wiotan iu wæron ʒiond Anʒelcynn 'what wise men there formerly were in England', pis ærendʒe-writ Aʒustinus ofer sealtne æe suðan brohte 'this message Augustine brought across the salt sea from the south', ponne wið norpan Donua æwielme and be eastan Rine sindon Easfrancas 'then to the north of the Danube river and to the east of the Rhine are the East Franks'.
The Direct Address
Direct address may be represented either by a single word or a phrase: Cedmon, sinʒ me hwæthwuʒu 'Csedmon, sing me something'; ia, leof, ic hit eom 'yes, my dear, it is I'; sunu min, hlyste uunre lare 'my son, listen to my teaching', aris, fæder min 'rise, my father'.
The Parenthesis
Parentheses are not exactly frequent in OE texts, and when ever they do occur, they are usually
represented either by adverbs or by phrases of the pattern "preposition + substantive". Here are a few examples: hwæðre pu meant sinʒan 'however, thou canst sing'; næfde he peah ma ponne twentiʒ hryðera 'he had, however, no more than twenty cattle', cf. also næfde se here, ʒodes ponces, Anʒelcyn ealles for swe ʒebrocod 'the (Danish) army had not, thank God, devastated England completely'.
2.1.3.
One Member and Elliptical Sentences
Impersonal sentences may be one-member ones, e.g. hu lomp eow in lade? 'how did you fare on your way?'; him on fyrste ʒelomp ædre mid aldum, pæt hit wearp eal-ʒearo 'it soon happened in the
right time among men, that is (the building) was quite ready'.
The subject of elliptical sentences is to be supplied from the context, e.g. syððan ærest wearð feasceaft funden, he paes frofre ʒebad 'since (he) was first found helpless, he lived to see consolation in this'; aledon pa leofne peoden on beartn scipes '(they) laid then their beloved leader on the ship's bosom'. In the former sentence it is clear that the subject of the subordinate clause is the same as that of the main clause. In the latter sentence it becomes clear from the preceding text that the king's attendants are meant.
2.1.4. Sentences introduced by hit and pær
In OE texts there are sentences introduced by the subject hit and by the adverbial modifier pær, which to some extent lose their own meaning. E.g. ne-wæs hit lenʒse pa ʒen, pæt se ecʒhete aðum-sweorum æfter wæl-niðe wæccan scolde 'it had not yet gone so far that a feud should arise between son-in-law and father-in-law because of mortal enmity'. These are the beginnings of sentences with a "formal subject" it and with the phrase there is.
2.1.5. Uses of Infinitive and Participle
The OE infinitive is used in different syntactical functions. It may be the subject of a sentence, e.g. all pas pinʒ pære peode ʒedafenap cup habban 'all these things it behoves the people to know'. The infinitive often combines with verbs meaning 'begin', 'be able', 'wish', etc. E.g. Hiʒeldc ongan sine ʒ eseldan in sele pam hean fæsre fricʒean 'Hiʒelac duly began to interrogate his attendants in the high hall'; him bebeorʒan ne con 'defend him I cannot'. With verbs of motion the infinitive often expresses the purpose of the action, e.g. he siʒe-hreðiʒ secean com mærne peoden 'he, glorified by victories, came to greet the famous king'.
The tō-infinitive is also used to express purpose: hie comon pæt land to sceawianne 'they came to have a look at the land'.
This form is also used in other functions, e. g. lonʒ is to secʒanne 'it is too long to tell', ʒoddædum, pa hy ær forhoʒdun to donne 'good deeds, which they had failed to perform', ne bip pær epe pin spor to findanne 'it will not be easy there to find your trace'.
Sometimes, more especially in poetic style, an infinitive with a verb of motion denotes rather the way the action is performed, e.g. 3ewat pa neosian hean huses 'he went approaching the high house', pa com of more under mist-hleopum ʒrendel ʒonʒan 'then came from the marsh under mist rocks Grendel (going)'.
The infinitive is also used to express commands in indirect speech: him budon drincan ʒebitrodne win-drenc 'they told him to drink bitter wine'.
Infinitive Phrases
When an infinitive follows a phrase "verb + substantive or pronoun in the accusative" the substantive and the infinitive form a construction which is usually called "accusative and infinitive". In OE this is still used rather seldom. It is mainly found with verbs of perception: seon 'see', hieran 'hear', ʒefriʒnan 'learn', and also with verbs expressing order or permission, such as hatan 'order', lætan 'let', etc. E.g. ʒeseah he in recede rinca maniʒe, swefan sibbe-ʒedriht 'he saw in the hall many warriors, a friendly troop sleeping'; fyr-leoht ʒeseah, bldcne leoman beorhte sciman 'he saw a fire-light, a glittering flach chine brightly'; ne-hyrde ic cymlicor ceol ʒeʒyrwan 'I did not.hear a more handsome ship constructed'; ic pæt londbuend, leode mine, sele-rædende secʒean hyrde, pæt hie ʒesawon swylce tweʒen micle mearcstapas moras healdan, ellor-ʒæstas 'I heard the inhabitants of the earth, my people, guarding the hall, say that they saw two such great spirits live in the moors, alien sprites'; pa ic wide ʒefræʒn weorc ʒebannan 'I heard that the work was widely proclaimed then'; pone here he let mid pæmscipum ponan wendan 'he told the army to move thence in ships'; let hie syppan faran ham 'he let them afterwards sail home'.
Substantive + Participle or Adjective
Such constructions
also form a predicative group, e.g. ʒedep him swa ʒewealdene worolde dælas
'he will make parts of the world so subdued to him', ʒesyhð sorh-ceariʒ
on his suna bare winsele
westne wind-ʒereste, reote berofene
'he sees, saddened, in his son's house the wine-hall empty, the wind's
resting place, bereft of glad noise'.
Occasionally
an absolute participle construction is found in OE, both substantive
and participle being in the dative case, e.g. forlætenre pære ceastre,
he com 'the camp having been left, he came' (= leaving the camp,
he came); he ʒeseah swapendum windum
pone leʒ ahefenne
'he saw the flame rising, with winds blowing'.
Negation
Negative words
are freely used in OE, their number in a sentence not being limited.
E.g. ne mæʒ nan pinʒ his willan wiðstandan
'nothing can withstand his will'; nan man ne bude benorðan
him 'no man lived north of him'; nan ne dorste nan pinʒ
ascian 'nobody dared ask anything'. Occasionally the negative pronoun
naht, noht (its original meaning being 'nothing', from nā
+ wiht) is used: ne con ic noht
sinʒan 'I cannot sing (anything)'.
Eventually the negative particle ne
was dropped, and the negative meaning came to be expressed by noht
alone.
2.2. The Composite Sentence
2.2.1. The Compound Sentence
Both asyndetic and syndetic compound sentences are found in OE texts.
The asyndetic
type may be illustrated by the following example
from Beowulf: fand pa pær-inne
æpetinʒa ʒedriht swefan sefter sym-
ble; sorʒe ne cupon, wonsceaft wera
'(he) found in there a troop
of warriors sleeping after the feast; they did not know any trouble,
misery of men'.
In a syndetic
compound sentence clauses may be connected by one of the conjunctions:
and 'and', oppe 'or', ac
'but': wæs he, se mon, In weoruldhade ʒeseted op pa tide, pe he wæs ʒelefedre
yldo, ond he næfre næniʒ leop ʒeleornade
'he, that man, was a layman until he reached an elderly age, and he
had never learnt any song'; ic me mid Hruntinʒe dom ʒewyrce, oppe mec deap nimep
'I will acquire glory with Hrunting (a sword), or death shall take me';
pa JBeormas hæfdon swipe wel ʒebun hira land; ac hie ne dorston
pæron cuman 'the Permians had had their land very well cultivated;
but they (the travellers) did not dare to disembark there': Her AEpelwulf
cyninʒ ʒefeaht
æt Carrum wip. XXXV. sciphlæst and pd Deniscan
ahton wælstowe ʒewald
'here (= in this year) king AEthelwuef fought at Charmouth with 35 shiploads,
and the Danes kept the battlefield in their power'; pa was
ðonne Leo papa on Rome, and he hine to cyninʒe ʒehalʒode
'then was Leo pope in Rome, and he invested him as king'; næfde
se here,'Codes ponces, Onʒelcyn for swðie ʒebrocod;
ac hie wæron micle swipor ʒebrocode on pæm prim ʒearum
mid ceapes cwilde and monna 'the (enemy) army had not, thank God,
utterly destroyed England; but they were much more afflicted by deaths
of cattle and human beings'.
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